NZ Pirate Party Takes Issue With Pro-Trans-Pacific Partnership Website 31
An anonymous reader writes "The Pirate Party of New Zealand has issued a strongly-worded (yet satirical) press release, decrying a recently-launched pro Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) website, stating, among other things: 'The use of a masted sailing ship is the most glaring example of the satirical nature of this website and one of our main grounds for offence. The Pirate Ship and all its related depictions are clearly intellectual property of the Pirate Party or at least if not the Party then The Pirate Bay which the Party shares a mutual affinity with for a free and open Internet. In these heady days of lawsuits over patents for rounded corners we can not stand by on the decks of the Internet and allow these cannon shots to go unanswered!'"
Re:What's good for the Goose is good for the Gande (Score:5, Insightful)
Their stance is that every copyright or trademark claim is as ridiculous as the satirical claim they make in this article.
They'll always be perceived as cranks ... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's reasons like this why the various Pirate parties will mostly always not be taken seriously. It's like they do silly things for fun and then expect people to act like they should be treated as a real political party.
I was at the grocery store a while back during an election, and there were two people there dressed in full pirate gear handing out their leaflets. Initially I thought it was a product promotion.
They might as well be the Insane Clown Posse Party if they're just there to do stupid things. I'm not voting for some guy in a pirate outfit.
Re:They'll always be perceived as cranks ... (Score:2, Insightful)
No, I'm saying it's awfully difficult to take someone seriously when they're wearing a tri-point hat and an eye patch who is asking for my vote.
And if I know who the Pirate Party is and what they stand for and think this, then there's going to be an awful lot of people who just see these people as clowns.
Issuing a press release about someone else using the image of a sailing ship infringing on your rights -- well, that's the kind of thing that just cements the idea that if they don't seem to be taking it seriously, why should we take them seriously?