National security as an issue isn't nearly as potent as it was back then, especially since the 9-11 fervour has long died off and people are sick of foreign wars. Plus, Abbot's repeated attempts to use it to drive up his government's standing hasn't worked for anything more than one or two polls. It'll take a terrorist attack on our soil (which is extremely unlikely) to change the mood, but that might actually make the government look incompetent in terms of national security, if all their measures since coming into power doesn't prevent an actual terrorist attack.
Australians care a lot more about the economy right now, and the government collectively looks incompetent on the issue, especially Abbot and Hockey. Labor's most recent poll standings have actually improved, and that's not even getting into the recent mess over Bronwyn Bishop. While there's plenty of time before the next election, Labor actually has policies, while the government is entirely paralysed by their fear of doing anything that might somehow be unpopular, which is one of the reasons there's a deadlock over the phrama stuff in TPP.
This would be a lot more depressing if it couldn't have been seen coming from low Earth orbit anyway:
The US State Department watered down their human trafficking report
The analysts, who are specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery - such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labor or prostitution - won only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the 15-year history of the unit, according to the sources.
As a result, not only Malaysia, Cuba and China, but countries such as India, Uzbekistan and Mexico, wound up with better grades than the State Department’s human-rights experts wanted to give them, the sources said. (Graphic looking at some of the key decisions here: reut.rs/1gF2Wz5)
Of the three disputes J/TIP won, the most prominent was Thailand, which has faced scrutiny over forced labor at sea and the trafficking of Rohingya Muslims through its southern jungles. Diplomats had sought to upgrade it to so-called “Tier 2 Watch List” status. It remains on “Tier 3” - the rating for countries with the worst human-trafficking records.
While isn't TPP but rather its US/EU-centric cousin, TTIP/TAFTA, this does relate to ISDS provisions.
Yes, because ISDS provisions don't already do that... The irony is delicious.
Well, ISDS is a huge sticking point in the agreement. Some EU countries have outright said they won't recognize the agreement if ISDS remains in it. But the US really, really wants it for some reason.
It wouldn't be the first time a multinational trade agreement involving the whole of the EU collapsed because of extremely controversial provisions, the EU killed ACTA by voting against ratifying it.
edited 12th Aug '15 3:20:51 AM by Cronosonic
Japanese media companies are notorious for not really understanding the concept of "Fair Use". It could be more targeted toward foreign displays of characters (youtube etc.), at least in their minds. How it will all work in practice is another matter entirely.
edited 13th Aug '15 4:31:20 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleThis one is worse if they are pushing that kind of crap on other countries, I am sorry but trying to kill an entire industry just so you can make a buck doing something completely different is way over the line. The death of Doujins and Cosplay would outright ruin pretty much every anime but the most mainstream kids crap.
You have no idea how much of a benefit series get from stuff like that and how much of a boost Comiket does to cities revenue every half a year, think of the biggest Sci Fi con you have ever been to then times that by 10 and all for fanworks and free series promotion for studios and a way for promising upstart artists to get their start like Ken Akamatsu and so many others usually under a pen name.
Studios don't officially sign off on it because much of, but not all, the doujinshi market is Hentai and they don't want to be seen supporting porn but with this...
edited 13th Aug '15 3:49:35 AM by Memers
Oh, I know very well. Like I said, outside of Japan the media companies simply hate giving any rights. I find it a tad bit bizarre that they're even bending over for this, considering how much publicity they get from Doujin in the first place. The government has been very keen on selling the "cool Japan" image all over the world. But then again, Japan's economy is stagnant with only a little improvement with Abe in charge, so who knows what the actual plan here is.
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleDoujinshi, as a whole, can not be killed by TPP, but will be severely crippled. Original doujinshi is big enough to have its own event
. Still a big nightmare, though.
Copyright extensions, however, won't benefit dead creators in anyway as in being dead, the money won't be used anywhere and extending them doesn't makes sense.
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By the way, your current profile picture is a character from those "mainstream kids crap". And I think most of those while certainly not decent, they are certainly not crap as well.
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Yeah. And said people also want people to shut up about SOPA
. Because not reminding people of the past worked so well before.
edited 13th Aug '15 7:52:53 AM by Psyga315

edited 1st Aug '15 9:16:54 PM by Cronosonic