The Senate is still expected to act on a fast-track bill this week for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) before leaving for Memorial Day. Politicos suggest that the only way for the controversial trade agreement to pass is through trade promotion authority, which would give President Obama a yes or no vote on the TPP without lawmakers being able to amend it.
While some lawmakers are leading the fight to stop the TPP -- like U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) -- hundreds of tech companies are also coming out in opposition to the trade pact. The main concern these companies have is what it could mean for a free and open Internet, even after the FCC approved new net neutrality rules.
The Guardian reports:
Wikileaks
While more than 250 tech companies signed a letter to Congress expressing their concerns over the matter, there are some major players who were not signatories and whose absence was noticed. International tech giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook we not among the tech companies listed. According to The Guardian, Apple and AT&T are two members of the president's International Trade Advisory Committee, which gives them access to sections of the TPP bill that would apply to their industry.
Of course, since the public is not given access to the language in the TPP, it is difficult to know what exactly is in the trade pact.