Apple, others urge presidential candidates to support Trans-Pacific Partnership, address government
Apple and a cadre of Silicon Valley heavyweights have plans to issue a nonpartisan letter urging the next U.S. president to back the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, a policy that would make hiring foreign workers a low friction process.
According to Reuters, which saw a copy of the document, the interests of tech industry giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Uber and others are being represented by 13 industry groups. The Internet Association, Telecommunications Industry Association and Information Technology Industry Council are among the letter's signatories.
Covering a dozen trade policy recommendations, the open letter is directed at presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, both of whom have not adopted TPP as part of their political platforms.
As noted by the publication, Trump's campaign is anchored by hardline immigration policies, though he appears willing to make concessions for highly skilled foreign workers. Clinton's stance is proactive by comparison, with the former secretary of state promising to increase the number of visas for qualified applicants. Neither Trump nor Clinton have taken a definitive position on TPP, which was signed in February but has not yet seen implementation.
In addition to trade agreements, the letter also asks for "narrowly targeted government access to user data" and recognition of consumer privacy issues, specifically that encryption be deemed a "critical security tool." Apple was recently involved in two high-profile court cases after resisting FBI warrants for assistance in accessing passcode-locked iPhones. The legal battle sparked a contentious debate over encryption rights.
Other topics addressed in the document include online censorship, a call to back the so-called "sharing economy" and tax issues.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the letter is the first to represent a wide range of tech industry interests on a single platform during a presidential campaign. The document will officially make its way to campaign runners later on Wednesday ahed of the July convention season, and months before the general election in November.
According to Reuters, which saw a copy of the document, the interests of tech industry giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Uber and others are being represented by 13 industry groups. The Internet Association, Telecommunications Industry Association and Information Technology Industry Council are among the letter's signatories.
Covering a dozen trade policy recommendations, the open letter is directed at presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, both of whom have not adopted TPP as part of their political platforms.
As noted by the publication, Trump's campaign is anchored by hardline immigration policies, though he appears willing to make concessions for highly skilled foreign workers. Clinton's stance is proactive by comparison, with the former secretary of state promising to increase the number of visas for qualified applicants. Neither Trump nor Clinton have taken a definitive position on TPP, which was signed in February but has not yet seen implementation.
In addition to trade agreements, the letter also asks for "narrowly targeted government access to user data" and recognition of consumer privacy issues, specifically that encryption be deemed a "critical security tool." Apple was recently involved in two high-profile court cases after resisting FBI warrants for assistance in accessing passcode-locked iPhones. The legal battle sparked a contentious debate over encryption rights.
Other topics addressed in the document include online censorship, a call to back the so-called "sharing economy" and tax issues.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the letter is the first to represent a wide range of tech industry interests on a single platform during a presidential campaign. The document will officially make its way to campaign runners later on Wednesday ahed of the July convention season, and months before the general election in November.
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The TPP may be good for multinational corporations, but it is bad for the country and its citizens.
What does the educational systems have to do with this????? Seriously dude people are being fired form jobs for nothing more than to make room for low wage H1-B workers. This isn't about filling jobs that employers can't find workers for, which by the way has been complete bullshit. It is about displacing American workers in jobs with imported labor.
This has many negative side effects for the country as a whole. For one there is the obvious problem of getting fired for no good reason and being put in a bad financial situation. This has a profoundly negative impact on the community and effectively lowers everybody's standard of living, even if not directly employed by the company laying people off. One only has to look at communities where massive layoffs have happened to se the truth in that statement.
In any event I really can't see the reason to try to link this issue to our educational system. People are being graduated at high rates in the comp-sic fields in this country, qualified people aren't the problem. However what we are starting to see is people basically saying FU to these big businesses and looking elsewhere for work. Even if that means leaving the tech industry for something more rewarding and maybe not at the mercy of belligerent management.
I can't fathom the reaction of some people to Bernie's free college plan. They seem to think it's impossible, unrealistic, unreasonable -- yet that's how the rest of the world operates. Because at the end of the day this is just money invested into the future of the country, and it benefits everyone. Sure makes a lot more sense than pissing it away waging war with the wrong country.
I don't know what you're all complaining about, at least the US gets *something* out of the TPP. Two groups come out ahead: American corporations, and China. China because they have lots of cheap labour that this allows them to sell to others parties to the partnership, and American corporations because they can exploit said cheap labour, and sell their products to everyone else.
The rest of us are screwed. Sure, maybe a couple of us will get to go work in the US, but as a whole we get screwed.
The TPP is a disaster for societies and a boon to corporations that have no loyalty to any nation at all, including the one they are founded and located in. The TPP will give corporations power they don't deserve over governments that might want to curtail their actions for the betterment of their societies.
But noo, trust the government, they're going to do everything they can to make life better for you. Apple and other multi conglomerates have nothing but YOUR best interests at heart. What's good for GE is good for America. And Canada. And The EU. AMAZING.
In a second round of layoffs, that were halted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/in-turnabout-disney-cancels-tech-worker-layoffs.html?_r=0
Lawsuit surrounds the Jan 2015 layoffs.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3026332/it-outsourcing/disney-it-workers-allege-conspiracy-in-layoffs-file-lawsuits.html
http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/24/laid-off-disney-worker-will-tell-congress-disney-is-not-an-anomaly/
The game is the same all over the world: unpatriotic, international megacorps earnings define policy at the detriment of small businesses, local economies, the people and the environment.
These trade agreements e.g. would destroy local, environmentally appropriate farming and replace it with cheaper factory farm imports, even outlawing country of origin designations, leaving the consumer powerless due to being uninformed.
TPP and TTIP are the spawn of corporate hell.
Protectionism or bust.