The Pirate Party of Canada Is Official 430
wasme writes "The Pirate Party of Canada has become the first Pirate Party outside of Europe to become an official political party. Elections Canada confirmed with the party that the PPCA has gained 'eligible for registration' status, and can run in elections starting June 14. From the PPCA's official announcement: 'We are pleased to announce that as of April 12, 2010, the Pirate Party of Canada is officially eligible for Party Status. After 10 months of dedication and hard work, we have reached eligible status, which only leaves a 60-day "purgatory" period. After that, we will field candidates in subsequent federal elections, and begin the real work of a political party.'"
Congratulations (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Congratulations (Score:5, Insightful)
If everyone who has ever used the Internet to obtain an unrestricted digital copy of music or a movie is going to be labeled "pirate", then I don't have any reason to avoid the term. The term has already lost all meaning.
I was born in the U.S., I purchased DVDs while living there. Now to watch what I've purchased, I'm a "pirate".
Re:Congratulations (Score:5, Funny)
Mr. Springsteen is that you?
I was born in the U.S.A.
Purchased DVDs while living there
Now to watch what I've purchased I'm a pirate yeah!
I was born in the U.S.A.
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The term has already lost all meaning.
Except for the fact that actual piracy on the high seas, with weapons, kidnapping and extortion is on the rise off the coast of Somalia. So yeah, it's not as cute to call yourself a pirate these days, as it was when it was a quaint thing of the past.
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In the past?
You mean when there were even more pirates?
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In the past? You mean when there were even more pirates?
No, I mean in the recent past, before the resurgence of piracy. When piracy basically didn't exist.
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You can blame that on global warming.
Re:Congratulations (Score:5, Insightful)
"When piracy basically didn't exist" means "When they didn't talk about it on the telly" right?
Re:Congratulations (Score:5, Informative)
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This may help:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=region-free+dvd+player&x=0&y=0&sprefix=Region-fr [amazon.com]
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Yeah, personally I don't consider copying data or information as serious an act as pillaging, rape and murder, and I don't see how anyone made that connection.
No amount of specific sequences of 1s and 0s on my HDDs is going to make me think of myself as a pirate.
Re:Congratulations (Score:5, Funny)
Your rather eloquent expression of the invalid conflation between egregious breaches of social morality and insignificantly trivial breaches of consumer behavior is misplaced.I think what you mean to say is "ARRRR!"
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Your rather eloquent expression of the invalid conflation between egregious breaches of social morality and insignificantly trivial breaches of consumer behavior is misplaced.I think what you mean to say is "ARRRR! Eh!"
Fixed that for you
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it was the content industries of the US that deliberately and forcefully changed the meaning of pirate from "pirate of the high seas" to "software pirate" to "copyright infringement pirate". This was done via putting it in the news constantly. Pirate this, pirate that. So it's very appropriate to have a name that is a direct reminder of what they are up against.
The smart folks understand this has nothing to do with Somalia, although if it does bring attention to that, it would be a good thing. People need t
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In most other nations ( other than the U.S. ) the significance of a ballot label's "imagery" can be limited by the ability of a political party to enforce party platforms.
In the U.S.(in general) the name of a political party is just a ballot label, and any individual politician can run under it in a primary (nominating) election. In most other democratic nations, a political party is a private member based organization that "owns" a ballot label and chooses politicians to run
And now for their party theme song (Score:5, Funny)
Pirates of the Saskatchewan, by the Arrogant Worms
And it's a hi (hey) ho (hey) coming down the plains,
Stealing wheat and barley, and all the other grains.
And it's a ho (hey) hi (hey) Farmers bar your doors,
when you see the Jolly Rodger on Regina's mighty shores.
--------
But seriously, great news, and best of luck to 'em. Now go get those CRIA hosers.
Re:From that infernal nonsense Pinafore . . . (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, I wanted to pick something written by and about Canadians. Plus you have the rhythm and rhyme scheme all wrong. This is a better version:
"In short, in matters digital, downloadable and musical,
I am the very model of a modern copy criminal."
Re:From that infernal nonsense Pinafore . . . (Score:5, Interesting)
They call it theft for reasons that are quite clearly subliminal
In order to support a business model that's primordial
Infringement is a civil matter, extortion is criminal
But they push legislation that will kill our highway digital
And so we need a party that will argue antithetical
In order to preserve our freedoms we hold indispensable
So I say welcome to the party that is dubbed piratical
You'll get my vote election time lest Bob Rae joins your ensemble!
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The Last Saskatchewan Pirate - Arrogant Worms/Captain Tractor/Brad Johner
I used to be a farmer, and I made a living fine,
I had a little stretch of land along the CP line
But times were hard and though I tried, the money wasn't there
And the bankers came and took my land and told me "fair is fair"
I looked for every kind of job, the answer always no
"Hire you now?" they'd alway
Reation from Big Media / Big Patents to this ... ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Have there been any reactions from Big Media / Big Patents to this? Their strategy in the past has been to label these folks as common criminals when lobbying governments.
How do they swallow the fact that the Pirate Parties are now taking a legal and official route to copyright reform?
Have they issued any formal statements?
Maybe with more Pirates sailing the seas of governments, we will finally get information about what this super-secretive ACTA thing is all about.
I can't say if I am for or against the ACTA . . . because I don't know the details.
I do have a problem with so-called democracies sealing international treaties, while keeping their citizens (subjects) in the dark.
Re:Reation from Big Media / Big Patents to this .. (Score:2)
Have there been any reactions from Big Media / Big Patents to this? ... How do they swallow the fact that the Pirate Parties are now taking a legal and official route to copyright reform?
I'm thinking they'll just shrug their shoulders. They'll probably make a little money from this, by running human interest stories about the new "joke party" that started up. And they wouldn't be too far off the mark in calling it a joke party, either.
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I can't say if I am for or against the ACTA . . . because I don't know the details.
I don't have to know ANY of the details to be against it -- why would they keep it a secret if they thought it was benign? There are media companies and governments, NO input from citizens, and "my" representatives are keeping it secret from me. What's not to hate?
New name... (Score:3, Interesting)
Although the "Pirate Party" is a good name to get some publicity in these early hours, I believe that on the long term a new name must be found which reflects the main issues the party stands for.
Pirate can be changed into Privacy - still a P, so not such a change.
But I would run with this name for the next months or even years.
Re:New name... (Score:5, Interesting)
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You'd have thought that "copyright infringers" would have been short, to the point and accurate. Maybe that doesn't sound evil enough, even if it is correct.
As for "pirate", not only does it end up sounding 'cool' but it always had the wrong definition anyway, so it isn't surprising that they need something different.
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Pirate can be changed into Privacy - still a P, so not such a change.
How would changing the name to the "Privacy Party" be relevant? If it's not the exact opposite of what the party stands for, it's at least highly tangential. The Pirate Party stands for sharing information, not privacy.
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The Pirate Party stands for sharing information, not privacy.
Umm, no.
"Started in 2009, the Pirate Party of Canada strives to reform Canadian copyright laws, reform the patent system, and protect every Canadian’s right to privacy."
http://www.piratepartyofcanada.com/ [piratepartyofcanada.com]
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Pirate can be changed into Privacy - still a P, so not such a change.
How would changing the name to the "Privacy Party" be relevant? If it's not the exact opposite of what the party stands for, it's at least highly tangential. The Pirate Party stands for sharing information, not privacy.
Have you actually looked at our policies? At least here in the UK rolling back surveillance & defending individual privacy is part of our platform. Just look at the three bullet points on our front page: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/ [pirateparty.org.uk]
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Have you actually looked at our policies?
No, I haven't.
At least here in the UK rolling back surveillance & defending individual privacy is part of our platform. Just look at the three bullet points on our front page: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/ [pirateparty.org.uk]
OK, so that seems a bit schizophrenic. You want to increase privacy, but also want to "let information be free" in terms of allowing sharing of information. But increased privacy is the opposite of sharing information, it's increased control over it.
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OK, so that seems a bit schizophrenic. You want to increase privacy, but also want to "let information be free" in terms of allowing sharing of information. But increased privacy is the opposite of sharing information, it's increased control over it.
We want openness and transparency from government and organisations but privacy protections for individuals. There's no contradiction there, just empowerment for the normal person. Copyright would still remain (at a much reduced length) for people who try and make money from others work, just sharing between individuals would be decriminalized. A full PPUK manifesto can be found from here: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/press/releases/2010/mar/22/pirate-party-uk-announces-general-election-manifes/ [pirateparty.org.uk]
History will look upon the pirate parties... (Score:5, Interesting)
...not as extreme promoters of the abolition of copyright, but the catalyst that led the eventual restoration of copyright as a tool to promote cultural innovation, instead of hampering it.
I can dream, can't I? :)
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I don't think that dream is so far from reality.
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I share your views. :)
But it's a dream until it actually becomes a reality...
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Wrong right. You confuse copyright — the exclusive right of publishers to copy a work (which is never physically enforcable) — with the author’s right — the right of a creator of a work, to get something in return for it (which in the US conveniently has little or no meaning).
Copyright was never about the ones who thought up the whole thing. But about those who wanted to be their liege lords. Something that is completely obsolete nowadays.
If you are an author/artist/creative, then ju
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Wrong right. You confuse copyright — the exclusive right of publishers to copy a work (which is never physically enforcable) — with the author’s right — the right of a creator of a work, to get something in return for it.
It's the same thing. There is no author's right without copyright. Only through control of the publishing chain will the concept of an author's right make any sense.
If there is no copyright then the only way to keep someone from publishing your works is to not publish them yourself.
Copyright was originally intended to give an economic incentive to the creation of cultural works. By granting the author (or the party the author has transferred the copyright of the work to) a temporary monopoly on copying said
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Why? Copyrights exist to promote the public interest by encouraging authors to create and publish works that they otherwise would not create and publish, while minimally restricting the public in terms of both the scope of protection and the duration during which the works are protected.
A perpetual right is not only unconstitutional (the Constitution requires that copyrights be granted only for a limited time), but clearly cannot ever promote the public interest precisely because it is perpetual. Further, f
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No. That is your and some American forefather's interpretation of why the copyright exists.
Well, that's good company to be in. Of course, it is also the reasoning of the British, when they created what we think of as copyright, even earlier in the 18th century. And it's been the opinion of at least the US courts up to the present day. And, frankly, it's the only reason that is compatible with the idea of a natural right of free speech.
In other countries, the right to be recognized as an Author of a work is
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I can dream, can't I? :)
Yes, and you're the kind of individual we need running for office.
OZ? (Score:2)
I thought Australia had a pirate party already? OP says Canada is the first outside Europe?
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Ah, thanks for clearing that up.
Oh great... (Score:5, Insightful)
Another Canadian political party siphoning off left-leaning voters. Already that vote is split between Liberal, NDP, Green, and (some would argue) the Bloc. This vote split is why the conservatives can continue to hold political power with 38% of the popular vote.
In political systems with fully proportional representation (example: Israel) these sorts of political parties make sense: the hurdle to get representation in the legislature is surmountable and you may even be brought into a coalition government. However, in first-past-the-post systems (Canada, US, UK) these vanity parties are only self-defeating. Whichever side of the political spectrum is best able to AVOID this fragmentation is almost guaranteed power. To use a Canadian example, look at the solid Liberal control in the 90s, made easy by a 3-way fragmentation on the right (the old PC party, Reform, and Alliance). Once those parties re-coalesced into the current Conservative party they were able to take over from the perpetually fragmented left.
If you have a particular issue that you want to advance in a first-past-the-post democracy, the correct move is to identify which of the major parties is most receptive to your goal, and organize within that party. Form an organization, raise money, make noise. If you're a visible constituency within a major party (and can be counted on to bring in votes, donations, and volunteers) then they will have reason to differentiate themselves by embracing your issue.
If instead your constituency says "ha! We're going to take our votes and make our own damn party" then BOTH major parties will simply say "ok, no need to listen to care what those guys want -- they're not going to vote for us anyway". You're only making copyright reform HARDER to achieve.
Re:Oh great... (Score:4, Insightful)
And that's why first-past-the-post systems are pretty stupid. I'm continually amazed by how US and UK politics can be so fucked up.
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...You're only making copyright reform HARDER...
Copyright reform isn't happening, at least in the right direction, so no loss there.
How about only having 1 party? That'd guarantee total power. No fragmentation here, no siree...
Re:Oh great... (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't speak for Canada, but "Voting for the lesser evil so that 'The Other Guy(tm)' doesn't get elected" is half the reason the US political system is the shithole it is right now. Nothing saddens me quite like people dredging up this tired old line to oppose the formation of new political parties, and getting modded up for their trouble.
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That's why I always support Cthulhu for President: Why vote for the lesser evil?
But more seriously, while the "lesser evil" argument isn't entirely valid, bear in mind that if 50% of Nader voters had voted for Gore in 2000, Gore would have won easily and the debacle that was the George W Bush administration would never have happened. So there is a good argument for "vote for the lesser evil" when it's a close election between completely evil and not-so-completely evil, and "vote for what you really want" wh
re: First past the post democracy ..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Your argument is the exact same one I hear all the time in the USA, when it comes to the Libertarians. (In fact, the man most people probably consider the quintessential Libertarian figure today -- Ron Paul? He's run on the Republican party ticket since the mid 1970's!)
The problem with the entrenched 2-party system is, the 2 parties tend to align themselves with certain "goals" they want to achieve. Individuals signing up to run under one of their party names who have different ideas quickly get marginali
Yar (Score:2, Flamebait)
There ain't no party like a pirate party because a pirate don't respect intellectual property laws.
Do not need (Score:4, Interesting)
What we need is a party to split the right. I would be happier to see a pro-intellectual property, family values, pry gun from cold dead hands, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights party announce, something that could siphon votes away from the Conservatives.
Hey, Preston, how's about giving that Reform thing another whirl?
Canadian Pirates (Score:5, Funny)
Arrr, eh ?
Love the goals, worry about the name. (Score:2)
So I propose they change their name to "Privacy Party".
The US version failed (Score:5, Funny)
Other issues? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm all for this, but based on my "admittedly limited" exposure, it seems that the only issues that the Pirate Party have ever really talked about much are copyright issues. No qualms there, I'm all for that, but do they have an official stance on anything OTHER than copyright?
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We explicitly don't take stand in most questions because it will only split the movement and make it weaker. Our issues are VERY important to us and our stand in them are WAY different from the established partie
There's a problem with the name.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Insightful)
Turning over power to multinationalists
keep drinking coca-cola-corp products, eating nestle foods, and driving GM cars ... The problem with your reasoning is that you don't apply it to corporations.
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He compares the PP to the International Socialist Org. I think his *real* problem is that he's rabidly against all that even slightly fetters corporate power due to his blind hatred of anything that smells like socialism. I wonder if he can spell "McCarthyism".
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That's meant sarcastically I guess?
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Insightful)
corporations don't make laws or form government you silly twit.
You must be new round here.
It's called the "golden rule" - he who has the gold, makes the rules. From where I'm sitting, corporations have most of the gold, and there sure are a lot of laws being made in their favour at the moment.
Plus, corporations may not form government, but they sure do field people who form government - Halliburton anyone?
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I want to add the crucial detail of it saying “gold”. Not “dollars”. This is intentional.
The whole economic crisis didn’t happen for those, who had their money in gold. Its value remained stable. Or in other words: Rose dramatically compared to the dollar.
Now they just have to sell it, to buy that cheap cheap dollar, and they have extreme profits, bought with our labor.
Now guess who had the gold during that time... yup, the very people that caused it in the first place.
And now
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Insightful)
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Please, Bad Analogy Guy, explain to us how differences in physical geography cause different needs for digital freedom.
And, if possible, please use an analogy to illustrate your explanation.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union [wikipedia.org]
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, no.
The different pirate parties don't all work the same. I see it as a generic name for the concept, just like there's a "Communist Party" or "Conservative Party" in multiple countries. They may agree on the basics between themselves, but don't necessarily actively cooperate or agree on the specifics.
The different pirate parties do disagree on things like how long copyright should last. There's a general agreement that the current length is too long, but the swedish one wants 5 years, while there are others that would be fine with 20.
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We have a Communist Party in Canada, and have had one for a long time. This hasn't caused any problems. We also have a "Rhino" party, (or did for many years, anyway.)
When you have a multi-party system representing many voices, then what you are talking about becomes a strength rather than a problem. The more populous voices heard on the floor of the House of Commons, the better. At least in an ideal world, which we clearly do not have.
The problems seem to occur when one party gains too much power. Gene
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> multinationalists
Is that even a real word? Sounds like something made up by political lunatics in the US. Anyway, I'm not replying to insult you, IIRC you're a sane person judging from past posts, but I really don't get this (very US-specific) fear of other nations.
> But what worries me about the Pirate Party is precisely that it is fundamentally international in nature.
How can that possibly be a bad thing? Sure, a lot of things (location of a new city park or speed regulations) should naturally be
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Insightful)
The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden
I'm curious as to why you think your fantasies are of interest to the rest of us? :)
Re:Serving two masters (Score:5, Insightful)
Spreading BS like "The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden and then implemented throughout the world wherever the PP has any power to do so." is very irresponsible, please stop that.
The various Pirate Parties are independent, there is no hierachy.
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Besides, GP says "dictated from Sweden" as if it was a bad thing. Now, I think Sweden is a crap country with stupid people, but as countries go, it's still perhaps the best.
Raving Loony Party (Score:5, Insightful)
But what worries me about the Pirate Party is precisely that it is fundamentally international in nature.
What worries me is that many political parties which should be international in nature pretend to be merely local. For example, the UK's Official Monster Raving Loony Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party [wikipedia.org] should expand internationally. Entry by the OMRLP into US politics could be disastrous for both the Republicans and the Democrats, since the policies of all three parties would be so closely clustered (on the sanity scale).
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The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden and then implemented throughout the world wherever the PP has any power to do so.
I laughed out loud. Do you really believe that? That has to be one of the cutest attempts
to discredit anyone ever.
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The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden
I think you bit off a bit too much rhetoric there, and that your worries are founded on air.
...the formation of international parties (much like the well known International Socialist Organization) bodes ill for countries on an individual basis
I won't take your word for it, and I expect you to thank me for it. Evidence please. That is, evidence of your main point, not evidence regarding the incidental ISO.
I could imagine that international parties are scrutinized more closely so that the people who make up their rank are not dabbling buffoons, but rather competent citizens with a clear sense of both ideals and morals. In the case of political pirate parti
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The Swedish Pirate Party has no power whatsoever over pirate parties in other countries. The moment the German pirate party, for example, feel that the Swedes have gone too far, they can just ignore them and go their own way.
It's actually common that European political parties have "sister parties" in other countries. The Christian Democrats exist in many European countries, as well as Green parties, and Liberal parties. It's not comparable to the International Socialist Organization.
Re:Needs a better name (Score:5, Funny)
If you're going to limit the naming of your party to "things Americans don't shoot at", you're seriously limiting yourself, slippery. "Democrats" and "Republicans" is right out the window for instance ; ).
Re:Needs a better name (Score:5, Funny)
Pfft! Hadn't you heard? Canadians are notorious for killing seals.
Re:Needs a better name (Score:5, Funny)
I am Canadian*, and I give that comment my seal of approval! ;)
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* Made out of Canadian philosophy extracts and high-European thought syrup.
Re:Needs a better name (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Needs a better name (Score:4, Insightful)
i agree, pirate party is a retarded immature name. these clowns undermine serious copyright reform.
These "clowns" are actually running for political office and working from within the democratic system. If nothing else, the fact that they're acknowledged as a legitimate political party gives them access to a lot of extra soapboxes. TV interviews, debates, questions, these all serve to raise awareness about privacy concerns and governments selling out to big media.
So what have you done lately to promote serious copyright reform? And no, bitching about it on Slashdot does not count.
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I'm confused, I though being a "clown" was a requirement to be a politician. So I the way I understood the parent post was that it was saying the members of this party were perfectly suited for political office.
Heck, they can't be any worse then Jack Latyon, Steven Haper or Michael Ignatieff (the three stooges). I can't trust any of them or their parties, none of them ever tell the truth or stick to campaign promises (Not that I'd expect a politician to be honest). It's always a toss up when I'm voting beca
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from your opening move it seems like copyright is ALL your about.
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Re:cd tax (Score:5, Insightful)
The CD tax is a way of labels to have a cake and eat it -twice- too.
First you pay for "pirated content" in media tax, and then they will litigate and sue you for damages anyway.
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Wrong. In any sane country (therefore this doesn't apply in the US) a CD tax has been a way to legalise pirating. Because you pay the tax, you get to fileshare until your heart's content.
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I agree. However, forming single-issue political parties is generally a "bad thing". Pushing as hard as you can on a single issue and ignoring the rest of the world is ok when you are a non-governmental pressure group but not when your goal is to be in the government. If you think that is unrealistic in case of the pirate parties, take a look at crazy coalitions in some European countries where parties with 0.5% of the vote are actua
Re:Pirate parties should rename themselves (Score:5, Insightful)
Who says their goal is to be in government?
Besides, the fact is, the PP in Sweden has succeeded rather well in both gaining lots of attention for the issues, and largely forced the hand of the established parties to start listening to people on copyright/IP issues. Across the board. The result is that Sweden is now one of the EU's biggest champions when it comes to advocating common-sense on these issues. (for instance, they've already made it quite clear they won't sign ACTA the way it looks at the moment).
Hyperbole. Which European country has parliamentary representation for a party with 0.5% of the vote? Usually the cutoff to get a seat in parliament is 3-4%.
So? If all people care about is one issue, to the extent that they're prepared to vote for a single-issue party, then why shouldn't that count for something? It's up to the other parties to decide if they want to compromise in exchange for support or not. If anyone should be criticized it's them.
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Who says their goal is to be in government?
The entire premise of forming a political party is to be in government. Why else would you do such a thing? It amounts to an act of fraud on the citizens to form a political party without aiming to govern.
Re:Pirate parties should rename themselves (Score:5, Insightful)
You're confusing governing with being in government.
You don't have to be in the government (have cabinet posts, i.e. control the executive branch) to govern. You still have full legislative influence by being in parliament.
For instance, the Swedish Greens have never been in government, but have succeeded in influencing lots of legislation.
To make an analogy to US politics, what you're saying is akin to it being dishonest to run for Congress if you have no intention of seeking the Presidency.
It's not necessarily the case that a small, single-issue party can maximize their influence by being part of government, since that would force them to ally themselves with a political block. It would also force them to shoulder political responsibility for the government's policies, even when outside their sphere of interest, something which could risk dividing their membership.
Re:Pirate parties should rename themselves (Score:5, Informative)
I think there may be a slight confusion in terms here - in English-speaking countries, "government" is often used to refer to the state as a whole. In that sense, the entire parliament and all authorities are part of the government.
In Sweden, the word is used in a stricter sense; only the executive organ is referred to as "government". The rest is referred to simply as "the state".
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Who says their goal is to be in government?
The entire premise of forming a political party is to be in government. Why else would you do such a thing? It amounts to an act of fraud on the citizens to form a political party without aiming to govern.
Here in the UK, the Green Party has never been elected to a seat in Parliament, however just by standing and taking votes from the other parties they have managed to get their platform onto the agenda of the main parties - they've essentially won the argument. If the PPUK can emulate that, we'd consider it a success. I mean, we're just about to fight our first election, under a year after we formed; we're only standing in 10 seats out of the ~650 or so that there are.
Even if we won all 10 seats we couldn't
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Canada doesn't have a proportional system so it's not as much of a problem there.
We instead have the problem where if you have less than 15% of the vote, unless you're a single issue party dedicated to one region like the Bloc, you have no power at all (see: Green party). I prefer having actual democracy to cycling back and forth between two major parties as soon as the current one does too many things you don't like.
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I agree with that.
And on top of that it's all sounding highly opportunistic, good chance that the people in these parties prove poor politicians I have seen that happening in The Netherlands around the party founded by the late late Pim Fortuyn - the result was a lot of infighting and five, six parliamentary elections in 8 years time. His party gained some 15-20% or so of the votes, out of nothing. By then we had had the murder of Mr Fortuyn already and the party started to resemble a wrestling ring more t
Re:Pirate parties should rename themselves (Score:5, Insightful)
However, by using the name "pirate" (pirates in the physical world are dangerous, armed criminals), the parties are alienating a potentially broader public.
Oh there are a lot of people who remember a happy youth, dancing to pirate radio stations since that was the only way to get the good music.
"Pirate" is the perfect name in this historical context and rings pretty well with the intended supporters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh come on. Haven't you heard of the Tea Party, those wonderful, thoughtful, educated ultra-rightists, led by the ever-so-thoughtful Ms. Palin?
Heck, if a bunch of kooks called the "tea party" can make the republicans pee in their pants, then the "priate party" ought to make the democracts shit in their shorts.
I'm buying pop corn. We may not have thoughtful politics here in the US, but it sure promises to be entertaining. Bring on the Pirate Party! I'll join!
Re:International politics (Score:4, Insightful)
Is the Pirate Party the first example of a political party that is operating in multiple countries at once?
How soon they forget. The Communists had this sort of thing going on a much larger scale than the Pirates.