Slashdot Mirror
Pirate Party Comes to the U.S.
Spy der Mann writes "Wired news has published an interview with the Pirate Party of the U.S., which was formed a week after the raid on Pirate Bay. The group patterns itself after Piratpartiet, the Swedish political party associated with The Pirate Bay, and says it wants to reform intellectual property and privacy laws."
We could certainly take a long hard look at copyright law in this country. It's become clear to me that the public domain is, for all intents and purposes, closed. Everytime Mickey gets close to falling into PD congress will suddenly find it in their interest to extend copyright.
The should not have given their party a self-defeating name.
"Say AAARGH now, ye scurvy pirates!"
In other news, Swedish politicians tell Bush, "Keep the lot of 'em!"
This is exactly what geeks across America have been hoping for: a group intended to defend the consumer's side in privacy and intellectual property discussions. But there's no way they're going to succeed in politics when they've named themselves the "Pirate Party". I don't think I even need to ask whether they realize that they're giving their opponents fodder for later complaints and insults.
ttuttle is a rankmaniac
And I thought they were joking when I saw a comment on Digg or here, (cant remember which), that there was going to become a Pirate Bay USA, will never happen but good to see a little good come out of the RIAA and USA make jackasses out of themselves in the raid.
With the election system of the US, it's always 2 parties with nobody having thet slightest chance to muscle in, at best in local elections (which, frankly, have no impact on copyright laws).
:)
But I support the idea. The idea has been picked up by our communists. I guess I'll become a comrade.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
At least they didn't spell it this way: P1r8 P4rty
Yarrrr!
It be about time that someone be takin' up the mantle of IP reform and greater privacy! Fer sure, the twin armadas of the Republicrats and Democans have failed to take it on, and e'en the Libertarians and Greens don't talk too much about it.
Avast, mateys! Perchance finally there be a Party worth votin' for.
Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
I'm not very confident in a group that's set to reform our copyright/patent system when they cannot even have enough common sense to realize that a name such as "The Pirate Party" is NOT going to be taken seriously here in the U.S. This time is investment is better spent on something that has somewhat of a chance in hell.
"True refinement seeks simplicity."
I like what you have to say and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. :D
"In case of emergency, break glass. Scream. Bleed to death."
I submitted this story but got rejected.
The republican kentucky govt has blocked a Liberal Blog criticizing it.
China, anyone?
Join our Party and fight Global Warming!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
A politacal party that fights for all the things mentioned on the pirate parties website is great. I'm all for a politcal body finnaly standing up and fighting angainst corporations that take away from what makes this country great. However a party devoted just to those things will never stand. While the geeks of america may band together for this party it just isn't enough. A political party must be ready to face all the challanges of a society not just a select few. The Pirate party would have to take a stand on things like war, poverty, crime, drugs and so many others. And thats not to mention a party needs support from a majority of people with all sorts of backgrounds and cultures.
Just something to think about.
Eating the brains of your enemies does not make you smarter. But it's still fun.
Please. It's not like they're even going to get that far. This is nothing more than a couple of no-names who decided to set up a web page and call themselves a political party because they thought it was cool. Bring in a leader with teeth and some money and we'll talk.
Holy convergance of idealologies Batman!
We all know Al Gore is all about Global Warming (See Here), and we also know there is a direct link between the number of pirates and the average temperature of the earth! (See Here)
This cannot be an accident - it's fate!
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
Wasnt it reported that the pirate party had nothing to do with the pirate bay?
I'm not necessarily a fan of what the Pirate Party represents. But, sometimes, overkill on the other side of the problem may work to balance the mess out. I just hope that we can eventually find a happy medium.
And yet, it was terrorism (and a form of communism; after all, they had to work and share together) that set America on the path to independence from England.
Likewise, OSS was labeled as terrorism/communism by some, and now it is pretty much understood that it is one of the truer forms of capitalism (and charity).
Somewhere down the road, as ip laws are changed, this group may be changed from being consider terrorists to heros.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
...why's the rum gone?! (Look away kiddies, this post be rated ARRRR!!!)
Honestly, at this point, I *do* support piracy.
After seeing how the Republicans are selling my ass out to the telecoms in the house*, I--someone who has been registered as a republican for as long as he could vote--am dumping that party until it comes to its senses.
Keel haul the blaggards!
* There are plenty of reasons to dump them, not just Net Neutrality. It's just that that's the absolute last straw. At this point, I feel like I'm throwing my vote away voting for either of the two main parties, anyhow so I might as well vote with someone I agree with...
And to think I gave up modpoints for that.
Nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained -Tom Baker, Doctor Who
Their platform is redicoulas and goes off on odd tangents. This completely discredits the pro patent reform movement.
No Sigs!
So spot on, judging from this text only, it seems that I agree with all they say! (hmm, which is the definition of "good", right?) If I were American, I'd vote for them. But wait, I'm Swedish!
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
does someone want to open a canadian branch of the Pirate Party? If so, I'm in (representing the "it's like cuba" province a.k.a. Québekistan)
Where's the fun in making fun of someone who's half-joking with themselves to begin with?
/ Per
It says "securing for limited Times". What needs to made clear(er) in the Constitution is that Copyright laws that demonstrably do *not "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" are not valid.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
why don't all these groups that want to repeal such and such bad law, or change this law, or whatnot, just get together and lobby for campaign finance reform. once that's done they can actually have a snowball's chance in hell of actually getting done what they originally set out to do.
I agree that we need to seriously reform the patent system in the United States. But the Pirate Party isn't going to do this. In fact, one might argue that all it will successfully accomplish is marginalizing the issue and its supporters. There are dozens (if not more) third parties in the US. It is very hard (and in this day and age almost impossible) for a third party to have any electoral success (it does happen on a community level in certain places around the country). There are key differences between the electoral systems of most European countries and the US. In the US, we have a single-member district system that is winner take all. It makes our system functionally a two-party system. Most of Europe has a proporational representation system. Voters in Europe vote for the party, not the candidate. All that is needed for a small party to gain seats in a parliamentary body is to get over the threshold (whatever that threshold may be). Sometimes, that threshold is as low as 5%. Here in the US, you need a plurality of the vote at least (in some parts of the country, you need an outright majority). The pirate party getting 50.1% of the vote? I don't think so. Even 40-45%, not likely. To insist on something like this, just because it works in Sweden is to deny the reality of the electoral constraints place upon the US system.
From the interview:
Sigal: I think the raid is what brought this whole thing to my attention, and to the attention of people around the world. The raid in Sweden could turn out to be the best thing that happened to the internet community. I think it backfired on the MPAA. They wanted to take down a site they thought was illegal, but everyone noticed that the MPAA is terrorizing the people.
No kidding. Whether or not the party manages to elect any members, its time to bring these issues to the public on every front possible, including the political front. A strong grassroots effort behind the Pirate Party would throw these tactics right back in the face of the *IAA organizations.
The Simpsons where Kudos and Klang take over the bodies of Clinton and Dole.
CROWD: "I believe I will have to vote for a third party candidate."
KUDOS "Go ahead. Waste your vote. HAHAHAHA"
will win. :D
So pirate politics is becoming the new hot Swedish export? maybe the Swedes should have patented it, so then they could have used the MPAA or someone to enforce their copyright and get royalties...
otherwise what the Americans are doing is PIRATING!
http://www.automatiq.se
"Somewhere down the road, as ip laws are changed, this group may be changed from being consider terrorists to heros."
--
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days. (his sig)
I prefer the "e" in heroes as it seems to be missing these days.
PtPete
Oooh, I get it.
The Donkey says somthing stupid,
the Parrot repeats it,
& the Elephant throws them both in jail to keep them quiet.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
bashing the name. Most of the time i agree. I, myself, support things like the Green AND Libertarian parties over the Republocrats. I love Defective by Design, much like how i have much respect for the Green and Libertarian parties in the US, the Pirate Party in Sweden, and quite a many groups that may or may not be political parties. There's lots of great advocate groups out there fighting for noble causes.. for smaller government, tech rights, privacy rights, IP law, workers rights, environmental rights, you name it. But most of all of these groups suffer a similar fault and that's one of presentation. Very rarely do they show us that they're professional, they're websites look like crap, they're protests are childish, their statements to the public.. while i might agree with, can get a bit ridiculous at times. Groups like these people who can do something about it.. simply will never take seriously. I'm suprised Defective by Design has done what it has. But frankly if Richard Stallman wants to be taken seriously his needs to quit being a sappy bitch, cut his hair, trim his facial hair and learn how to dress and address professionals, government leaders, and the public. None of these groups that i adore so very much stands a chance in hell, until they can present themselves in a manner the rest of the world will take serious. Generation after generation, people simply don't seem to grasp this concept... and it's a trivial fact of life that makes a huge fucking difference that none of us are going to change. And until people wake up and quit prancing around in obnoxious outfits outside of corporate and government offices, they will be written off as nutbags, hippies, drug addicts, radicals, etc.. Now all of this being said.. The language has already been firmly planted about pirates and piracy. It's engrained into the entertainment and technological culture as it stands. This word isn't going away. I sit and i watch as the word "liberal" has become a dirty dirty word.. and watch the Democrats and Greens try to re-identify themselves as "progressive".. and it's not really working. This country is leaning towards Dems, not b/c this nation is liberal..but b/c they're tired of Republicans. It's really hard to escape a word and play semantics and hope you're new identification for what you do will take a stronger hold. As we've seen with the word "nigga" (though this has nothing to do with professionalism or politics), it's much easier to make an insulting word.. empowering. It has a very "stick it the man" attitude about it and gives way for great marketing. While i don't find it to be the height of professionalism and the ability to be taken seriously.. what are they going to call themselves? The Sharing Party? You think tree huggers get picked on.. that'd be nothing compared to this. I mean seriously.. there's not many names i could think of that would fit. The "lets not always maximize profits party". I mean.. maybe i'm not creative, but you tell me what would be a better idea.
Politicians will totally pander to some groups because they know that if they don't, they'll be punished bad enough to lose elections. In Canada, we have the NDP. They stand no chance of winning an election but they have a huge effect. The Liberals have to steal the NDP's policies in order to win. It is why Canada is very progressive on some issues. Even the Conservatives find themselves constrained because they know that they can lose votes to the NDP. Yes, I know that last one sounds strange; it helps to have been raised in Saskatchewan (it gave us both Tommy Douglas and John Diefenbaker) to understand it.
There are enough people who don't vote that you wouldn't have to turn too many Republicans or Democrats to make a big difference. This is one of those issues where you could get support from both sides. You could also bundle it with America's fading status in the world and the erosion of civil rights. Heck, you could probably even conscript Ralph Nader's followers.
http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htm
It would make some people's lives a lot easier if most people became too apathetic to vote. If you let that happen then you deserve what you get.
It won't be their name that keeps them down and anyone who thinks it will is being very naive. It will be the **AA's endless flow of money that keeps them down.
Check out the cave on the east side of lake Hylia. Strange and wonderful things live in it.
Let me know when the Ninja Party makes its way to the US. Ninjas beat pirates any day. I'm sure they would totally flip out and pass an act abolishing copyright, the *AA, and panhandling all at once. The first two for obvious reasons, the second and third because ninjas don't like whiners.
Slashdot: Where anecdotes and generalizations can be freely substituted for facts, logic, or intelligence
You really need to read some history. Calling what they did "terrorism" and "communism" is not even close to what happened. In fact, it sounds like you're romanticizing to really horrific things.
I doubt the Republicans will go for that since the xxAA are Leftist-Liberal organizations. The RINOs 'Republicans In Name Only' and the demoncrats might support them, but not the Republicans.
If a party designed to "reform real property laws" called itself the "Robber Party", I would never vote for it, send it money or let its rhetoric/policies influence my politics.
I'd call the cops.
--
make install -not war
It is a two-party system so good luck with that. Sounds like another faction of the libertarian-leaning ideals.
I'm just stating the plain political realities of living in America today. I commend this parties splash on Slashdot but get real and stop being cook-ie about politics. There are serious problems and we get ourselves distracted over non-sense all the time! If you want to be taken seriously become a interest group.
lol; keyboard was dirty; pretty funny, catch.
You, and people like you, saying it's "futile" and third party votes are "wasted" are the cause of the two party problem. You've helped brainwash the american voter into thinking it's a coin toss, and he should pick the "lesser of two evils".
Then on election day, we see some bullshit like "49% people favor John Kerry and 51% people favor George Bush". Which we all know is wrong. Nearly everybody, in the last election, thought both candidates sucked.
Vote for who you want to vote for. They may not win, but we won't be sending some assclown to the whitehouse with some bullshit "51% american support" argument. The next time the republicrats win, I want to see the number say "7%", followed by maybe Greens or Libertarians with 4% and 5% type numbers. I want the numbers to clearly demonstrate what the people want.
If that were to happen, and the two parties will realize just how tenuous their connection to the voters are, and things will start to change.
But instead, all of the apathetic slugs out there contribute the the problem by saying "I really like blah-blahs positions but I dont want to waste my vote so I dunno, Hillary Clinton I guess".
Vote for the Pirate Party if you like them. They don't have to win to send a message.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
The latter might help with the wino vote, but they don't turn out in great numbers.
The RIP party might gets some votes, at least in some Chicago districts - but I think the Democrats already have dibs on the dead.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
This should make the Flying Spaghetti Monster happy, anyway.
The difference between treasonous scoundrel and liberator of the people is who wins the battle in the end. It is always the winner who writes the history books.
Hooray! Now all we need is to get Al Gore to defect and run the thing. More Pirates = Less Global Warming. We must think of the children!
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
http://www.ninja-party.us/ does not appear to exist yet. http://www.ninjaparty.org/ does, though. I look forward to the clash.
But without punctuation and paragraph breaks, I'm afraid I can't read it.
Good luck next time, and don't get offended -- a lot of folks write like that when they first get their shiney new AOL trial CD in the mail.
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0603e.asp The New Mercantilism
m l The Fraud of Intellectual Property
http://www.lewrockwell.com/mcelroy/mcelroy17.html Patently Absurd
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sapienza/sapienza36.ht
http://www.mises.org/blog/archives/002935.asp Mises Economics Blog: Bill Gates: Anti-IP Movement Is Communist
I wish the Pirate party far better success than the Libertarians have had. It is surprising that the message of Liberty does not resonate in the United States.
Bob-
The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
The problem with parties with a limited scope on issues is that there is far too much room for the elected officle to slide in his own agenda. What would a party with such a small target issue do when it comes to other issues is anyones guess and it makes them a political loose cannon that serious political party supporters are going to have a problem funding even if their target issue is a good one.
Granted, no established party is going to really take this issue on in such a way either so I guess it leaves the public that wants this type of reform SOL.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
>Everytime Mickey gets close to falling into PD congress will suddenly find it in their interest to extend copyright.
Disney and all the rest of the those with vested interestes in intellectual property have more money than anyone could possibly counter with enough votes to make a difference.
It's all about the cash. Votes are just something to make you feel like you have a representative government.
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
As such, the Pirate party will, if it gets anywhere (and it won't) would just suck off energy from the Democrat party.
If they were wise, which they are not, they would recognize the way to have their voice heard and actually get stuff done is to act as a caucus within one of the two established parties.
Years and years ago the presidential campaign of Pat Robertson did the same thing. After LOSING, they formed an organization known as the Christian Coalition. They decided not to form their own political party but to ingrain themselves and take over the Republican party from the ground up. They were largely successful. The Christian Coalition on the national level is just a shel but their mission has largely been accomplished and they, in many cases, _are_ the Republican Party.
The Democrat party can be taken over (or at least heavily influenced) in the same way by an organized group - but it seems the Pirate Party is not it.
OSS was labeled as terrorism/communism by some, and now it is pretty much understood that it is one of the truer forms of capitalism (and charity).
Who, prey tell, ever called OSS terrorism? I think you've got something wrong here.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Copyright is supposed to be a compromise whereby both the creator of the content and society (most importantly, society) benefit. Since the content "owners" are no longer holding up their part of the bargain, I see no reason why we should continue to hold up ours!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I swear i am not a grammer/spelling nazi, but it was so close to your sig i couldn't help it.
PtPete
Actually, that's what I thought at first when they showed up in Sweden too - but I've come to the conclusion that "Pirate Party" is pretty darn clever. It's provocative and attention grabbing ... with the "Copyright Reform Party" or your other suggestions, all we're getting is another EFF. Who are doing an amazing job, of course, but they're not exactly well known (beyond slashdot circles).
These guys are trying to throw a wrench into the machinery; calling themselves "The Pirate Party" helps.
If they can get themselves sued over the name, all the better. They need all the mainstream attention they can get.
And this is where Approval Voting comes into play.
Basically, the idea is that you may vote for as many of the candidates as you approve of.
For instance, a good chunk of people enjoy many of the ideas that the Libertarian party believes in. This same chunk of people often has to make a choice between voting for a democrat or a republican, because everyone knows third parties stand no chance here.
Now, under the Approval voting system, you could vote for both the Libertarian candidate and the party you would have ended up voting for had you no choice.
Now, I do not believe that the Libertarian party would win. What I do believe is that they would receive a much larger number of votes, and many of the idea would be much harder for the main two parties to ignore.
The same, of course, would happen to the Pirate Party. They are not going to win, let's face it. But, if they were to receive a vote from 15-30% of the population (a reasonable goal), the major parties could not ignore that.
What makes this system so great, however, is the incredible ease of implementation. It isn't complicated for voters to understand, and ballots could already support multiple votes.
"...when, as in this case, Congress has not altered the traditional contours of copyright protection, further First Amendment scrutiny is unnecessary."
By implication, this means laws that do alter the "contours" can be challenged constitutionally. I'm thinking DMCA, esp. anticircumvention... which goes beyond the prohibition of copying and denies mere access to works, as pointed out in a good chapter of a very mediocre book: Protecting Ideas by David L. Hudson.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Like gun control, the pre-emtpive war, abortion, healthcare?
They can't possibly be a party without a soundbite worthy platform...
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
Hi -
Although I agree with the idea that large media corporations have too much control over copyright already, any group called "The Pirate Party" will actually hurt the cause for copyright reform. If they get much publicity at all (even if they only have a few members), they will be pointed to as yet another reason to justify even stronger copyright and DRM laws.
TWR
So I guess I'll have to see someone else about my crippling depression?
Yarr!
. . err .
Arr!
. . *sniff*
arrrrrrrrrrr . . . . .
Chemists do it with moles.
Hint 2: it doesn't take 100+ years to realize a profit on your intellectual endeavor, if that's your taste. Especially nowadays. As a general rule, your book/record/film is going to profit in its first five years of life or never. If anything, terms should be getting shorter as distribution & marketing technologies continue to improve.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
You know, I think the media really screwd up when they called it "software piracy" Everyone WANTS to be a pirate. If they'd called it "software faggotry" everyone would still buy all their shit
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
The original Mickey Mouse film trilogy was Plane Crazy, Gallopin' Gaucho, and Steamboat Willie. Any traits of the character that appeared in the original trilogy would pass into PD along with the films.
O rly? The Supreme Court ruled the other way in Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. , where Justice Scalia wrote that a trademark can't be hacked to extend copyright.
If I sign up, will the NSA put me on some list and monitor more? Oh hell sign me up anyways.
Can I bum a sig?
Are you seriously suggesting that voting for a 3rd party isn't throwing my vote away?! Unpossible!
Support the FairTax
The US Census Bureau exists to implement the constitutional requirement for an enumeration. A hard limit of half a life expectancy would be easy to implement based on data that the Census Bureau and similar government agencies already publish. But then pegging the copyright term to the progress of medical arts it might make the copyright industry support the drug industry.
Is that for muslims that are also fags?
Isn't Mickey trademarked? Doesn't that stop other companies from commercially utilising the Mickey Mouse name and image as long as Disney says in business and protects its mark?
Brought to the US via unmarked flights directed through Europe, maybe? ;)
I'm not sure you understand both terrorism or communism, but today's US culture is much different than even our recent past. I think the Gini coefficient does a pretty good job of expressing this on a graph (esp post-1970s).
Long story short, if you want to change the US, you fundamentally can not be short-sighted over a single issue. Well, actually you could if that issue was overturning Buckley v Valeo which found money equals political (free) speech (w/ minor restrictions). Excising money from politics would certain shift the political climate. But I'm afraid you're a handful of Supreme Court justices short for that endeavour and still subject to some very powerful entities who would strongly oppose. Still, being a single-issue political party is not a particularly effective course of action within a severely limiting two party system. Becoming an interest group (ex. Political Action Committee) would be adapted to the current US political climate. Of course, you'd still be outspent but maybe you will find the perfect coalition.
Sorry I am a wet-blanket, but I tell this because it is the truth and because I want the OSS & IP reform movements to succeed where they can under, you know, reality.
So, MrChaotica, you admit that you are not a creator of original content.
No wonder then -- you just want to be a leech on everybody else, with no respect for artists or people who actually produce things. You just want everything handed to you for free. You don't want to buy software, you want to steal it. You don't want to pay for music, you want to steal it. You don't want to pay for a movie, you want to steal it. While everybody else works to produce things, you sit on your lazy ass and steal, steal, steal.
When are you going to move out of your parent's basement?
In the end, all pirates end up either drowned or on the gallows.
May your body be hanging at the end of rope.
The name "Pirate Party" seems to identify the party with what is currently defined as a crime: piracy of software, movies, music, and so on. Will a name like "Pirate Party" not antagonize voters, given that the label is so negatively used? How about potential allies abroad who argue for a more balanced copyright regime, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Creative Commons?
Oh, it is a crime. That's the heart of the problem! The very problem is that something that 20% of the voters are doing is illegal by punishment of jail time. That's what we want to change. Where the established parties are saying that the voters are broken, we are saying it's the law that is broken.
Besides, it's a way of reclaiming a word. The media conglomerates have been pointing at us and calling us pirates, trying to make us somehow feel shame. It doesn't work. We wear clothes saying "PIRATE" in bright colors out on the streets. Yes, we are pirates, and we're proud of it, too.
Also, the term is not that negative at all in Sweden, much thanks to the awesome footwork of the Pirate Bureau (Piratbyrån), who have been working since 2003 to educate the public.
http://www.stephankinsella.com/ip/
i've tried bribes, extortion, blackmail, physical violence, attempted hypnosis, clandestine activites, begging and pleading...maybe now i'll be able to get my friends to vote if i tell them that they're gonna vote for a dude who wears an eyepatch.
From The Fine Article:
"interfering with peer-to-peer networks by flooding them with bogus files..."
Excuse me? Perhaps plenty of people are using P2P networks for trading stuff that the creators want to be traded -- unsigned bands, artists (of all sorts) who've released their stuff via Creative Commons, shareware, and the proverbial "Linux Distros." Which is great. If the honor system held any weight, that's all we'd be using P2P for.
But how does flooding interfere with those of us who do that? My understanding is that the film and record companies are distributing bogus versions of copyrighted works which are not authorized for trading via P2P. Hot movies and CDs and the like. Not Linux distros.
They claim that this holds back "technological progress and individual freedom." Seems like a Quixotic stance to me.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
you are pointless. fuck off and die.
my password really is 'stinkypants'
Shame the US isn't a democracy.
People will support the "immoral, greedy fuckers" party!
... Yep, people are going to take this party seriously!
So... Now where is my free warez(mp3z, dvdz, gamez, softwarez, etc)?
Our Pasta, who "Arghh" in heaven, Swallowed be thy shame.
Thy Midgit come. Thy Sauce be yum, On top some grated Parmesan.
Give us this day our garlic bread. And give us our cutlasses,
As we swashbuckle, splice the main-brace and cuss.
And lead us into temptation, But deliver us some Pizza.
For thine are Meatballs, and the beer, and the strippers, for ever and ever. RAmen.
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Mon
Copyright, patent reform, and privacy reform will only take a political party so far. If this party is going to succeed in any major way it also has to develop a clear stance on issues that white-bread america will be interested in. What are the party's stance on things like preventing the FEMA fiasco in the wake on Hurricane Katrina? What's their policy on the minimum wage laws? Where's their stance on drug policy and education and taxes?
These are what most people will want to know before signing up for a party.
Anyone who attempts to join, or even tries contacting the party, is going to get red flagged and brought to court by the MPAA and RIAA. This may work in other countries, where wire tapping and phone logging is illegal. However, knowing that attempting to join this party has a minimum entry fee of paying off two sueing entities, nobody's going to join. Who would join a Pirate Party unless they wanted to Pirate stuff? You're not a pirate, only takes two court battles to prove your innocence.
Congress-elected presidents are far closer to the ideals of Democracy than the Republic currently in effect.
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
The PPUS should add some recent links to add credibility to the stories that they cite as evidence for their case. I remember in high school policy debate that whoever had the most recent and relevant articles were those who won the points being made. At least, when the judge knew how to debate before judging. =) Anyway, I just think that would add to the lacking credibility for the first-time viewers, as opposed to the slashdotters (which makes up for 99% of his bandwidth, I'm sure) who know the story inside and out.
What actually surprises me just as much is how many people don't actually know what Public Domain even means. I didn't know what it was til about 2-3 years ago. Since then I've started sharing anything public domain (www.pdmedia.org) I can get my hands on and teaching people what public domain means.
the Sex Party
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
"And yet, it was terrorism (and a form of communism; after all, they had to work and share together) that set America on the path to independence from England."
Somebody slap that moron and give him a real history book. Calling the American Revolution "terrorism" is not only laughable, it's just plain stupid. Nobody was running around killing innocent civilians or committing suicide attacks; we declared WAR on a country and the ARMIES fought. That's what happens in war. Read some REAL history and put the crack pipe down.
Gah, it's retarded crap like this that makes me think there's no hope left for America.
Spy der Mann is mixing up Piratpartiet (The Swedish Pirate Party) with Piratbyrån. The former is not associated with The Pirate Bay in any way.
Hey, everybody, look over there! A terrorist!
I, for one, welcome our new Pirate Overlords!!!
crappy triceratops
Perhaps the best thing the Pirate Party could do is try to fuel a grassroots compaign for a Constitutional Amendment that sets in stone the fourteen year terms and registration requirements of the original US copyright laws so that Congress can't use the "harmonizing" excuse anymore. This of course would have to be done by the states themselves since the **AAs and gerrymandering have pretty much ensured that Congress itself would not introduce the necessary legislation.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
In order to enjoy a happy medium, get a gypsy drunk.
Social Liberals? Maybe I'm missing something, but what on Earth do Social Liberals have to do with extending copyright terms on America's artistic works? Social liberals typically favour personal freedoms, which would seem to cover duplicating things without having to ask for permission. Maybe my perspective is a bit skewed because I interpret the word liberal from a Canadian sense. Do American social liberals oppose freedom? I always thought that it was America's social conservatives that wanted everyone caged up so that they couldn't engage in unscrupulous behaviour.
An AC post, replying to what could easily be considered flamebait at best (I should know, I wrote it that way ;-), that is rational and insightful? Wha?!? Where's the real AC, what have you done with him?
You hit the nail on the head about Libertarians. They are idealogues, and a bit crazy, but they have some good ideas. And I hadn't even thought about migration difficulties in voting systems, you are right, Condorcet may be more fair, but it is really complicated. You basically have to take every possible pairing of candidates and say who you would prefer given those two choices. Approval voting is not as fair in some ways, but much simpler to implement.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
...I say STFU and DO SOMETHING. And that something is NOT bitching on /. about how the whole situation suxxors. Enough of that crap.
Maybe write your politicians and say that you're considering joining the Pirate Party and explain why. Maybe organize some pamphlet distribution at places like Worst Buy or Power Records or Hollyweird Video to inform people about the issues you agree with.
No one believed a washed-up wrestler could be governor of Minnesota. I don't believe that a washed-up actor could be governor. Or president. But all of these things happened.
Someone needs to get out on cafepress and make P.P. bumper stickers, t-shirts, mugs. Someone needs to make up those brochures to distribute at retailers. Someone (YOU!!!) needs to GET OFF THEIR ASS!
And what is wrong with libertarian's? They are for small government run by people who actually represent the voters. They want to let the market fix itself but in the context of a fair system. This party is not a joke and just because a few silly people on here dismiss it doesn't mean a thing. The point is that the vast majority of comments here support such a party and that will probably apply to the rest of voters as well. Therefore, this party has a chance.
There are two different dichotomies here: 1928 Mickey vs. later Mickey, and drawings of 1928 Mickey that appeared in the original trilogy (Plane Crazy, Gallopin' Gaucho, and Steamboat Willie) vs. newer drawings of 1928 Mickey. I misunderstood your post to mean the latter, that verbatim frames from the trilogy would be permitted under copyright law and under Dastar, while new drawings of 1928 Mickey would be an infringement. If you meant the former, that people would become free to make and sell new drawings of 1928 Mickey while drawings of later Mickey would remain under exclusion, then I apologize.
But has the trilogy's copyright already evaporated?
I think Science and the Useful Arts are stalling because people can "own" the right to solve problems in certain ways.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
It's not piratepartiet. It's piratebyran...
It is the owner that crashes the system. If you are enough of an idiot to put 50 background processes in Windows you sho
You basically just proved you have no logical counters to any libertarian policy with that utter BS.
we've got a party that promotes pillaging
I think we're all forgetting one thing: People will never even bother to find out about what the Pirate Party stands for.
The general public is just so amazingly ignorant that they'll readily follow whatever the dominate party's spin machine tells them to think.
In this case, people won't ever even care what the Pirate Party actually stands for: they'll just think the party is childish.
I mean, god forbid anyone should be so childishly naive to not just trust the government to do their job to represent We, the people. [that last line there was sarcasm for those who can't pick that sort of thing up]
Bleh, I wish i could afford to move abroad. At least while other countries still exist that don't have narcissistic, freedom molesting, nosey governments.
A better solution is Disapproval Voting, where you only vote for one candidate, the one that you believe to be the least competent. It eliminates the monopoly held by the two parties and ensures that the winner of the election is the least resented person.
Many, but not all, artists care about money. That's who copyright is for. If I can come up with one artist who doesn't care, does that destroy the case for copyright? I'm thinking for example of Bill Drummond burning a million quid.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
I actually stopped supporting the Republicrats 8 years ago. While they both talk as if they are in opposition to one another, they actually both do the same thing when they come into office. The cover for previous administrations' wrongdoings, send yet more American jobs overseas for slave wages, continue to raise taxes, fees, and assessments in many different ways, and continue to erode our freedoms. Now that many election districts are moving to electronic voting technology that is kept secret, votes can be even more easily manipulated.
The Internet has been successful in exposing the corruption of both major political parties within the United States. Now that a larger percentage (still not quite enoght to make a difference) of the population is beginning to wake up and realize that voting for republicans or democrats is a waste of a good vote, the republicrats will need new ways of staying in power (vote manipulation). In California, Jim Gilchrist ran for Congress under the American Independent Party (California equivilent to the Constitution Party). Even though he was outspent by both of the republicrats, he won the most votes on election day. It was the absentee votes that caused him to lose, however. Hopefully people will become fed up enough to take action against the entrenched corrupt powers that be and remove their power. If the government is ignored by the majority and the majority refuse to pay or collect taxes, then the government will be forced to change. If the powers that be decide to use force in order to assert their power, then the majority must use force to defend theirselves. The Second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the protection of the right of the average citizen to keep and bear arms. This was done so that as a last resort, people could have a right to defend themselves from an oppressive system. I really hope that people are not forced to use violence to restore their freedom. I hope that when the day comes, the politicians, judges, police, and other officials realize that they have enjoyed their free ride for long enough and will be willing to start serving the people who actually pay their salaries.
I do not see a citizens Tea Party anytime in the near future, unfortunately. However, I do believe that there will be a rise in violence against judges, police, and others who continue to enforce the will of the special interests. This is unfortunate since usually innocent people usually also get hurt. However, when peacuful change is made impossible, violent change is made ineviable. Citizens of the U.S.A. will eventually find themselves either under the yoke of oppression, violence, or both. This will either happen when people have finally had enough of "their" government or when China, Mexico, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other nations invade the U.S. and take the country as payment for all the stuff that they have sold to the U.S. Just about the only thing the U.S. exports now is crappy "culture" and paper units called, "dollars". The federal, state, and local governments within the borders of the U.S. have effectively tied the hands of the American worker and small business by rules and regulations while at the same time opening the floodgates of foreign competition not encumbered by draconian rules. If and when the day Americans regain their freedom comes, I hope it is not too late to be able to enjoy it.
You just proved you have no rebuttal to my logical counters. A strawman isn't just an argument you don't happen to like, the phrase has a specific meaning. It means to misrepresent an opponent's position, defeat that position, and claim you have defeated the opponents real position. The thing is, I am not misrepresenting the position of the Libertarian Party. Oh, there may be Libertarians with different positions, but they aren't the official Libertarian Party, are they? Don't believe me? Go read the party platform at lp.org. Everything I say is right there. I am not really trying to logically counter their insane propositions, just point out how insane they are.
I mean, I will debate those points if you want, but really, you don't think monopolies are possible without government intervention? You think we'd all be better off with toll roads and a dozen competing electric companies, no environmental regulations, and no food or workplace safety laws?
If you want to live in that world, why don't you and your Libertarian friends all move to some small county someplace in Montana? I'm sure you could control local politics and get your slate elected and agenda enacted. I mean, there are a lot of you, right? It's not like you are some tiny little fringe group that can never get it's act together. Oh, wait, it's been tried, and yes, you ARE some tiny little fringe group that can't get it's act together. I mean, come on. Every other ideology under the sun has managed to get itself enacted and tried out someplace in the real world. Either Libertarians are completely ineffecive goofballs who can't even manage what the freakin' Quakers managed, i.e. get a plot of land and set up your own rules, OR Libertarians know their policies are full of shit and don't want to see them enacted because so long as they are purely imaginary, we can all imagine them actually working.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
"Even enough copies," I meant to say.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Their page is as dry as a bone so as to be just about unreadable. So they don't sound like a meandering unabomber they should learn how to better communicate their thoughts. When they come into power this had better be a major federal holiday.
Why can't people try to get copyright overhauled at the same time as having fun?
When people see "copyright overhaul party" on their voting forms, they might not be sure about what that party does. When they see something like "internet pirates", they know exactly what that means.
The Populist party was responsible for unions and workers' rights in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Back then they were seen as ridiculous in the political field. Even though they disbanded after a few years, they started the ball rolling, they broke the groupthink that exists in politics.
After all, workers rights and unions and pro-competitive laws were "Bad for america" back then. As we relied heavily on huge corporations like Standard Oil and the railroads to keep our infrastructure going, not to mention child labor and abusive dangerous working conditions. Pissing them off would have meant bad things for America. Yet, nothing bad came out of doing so.
We're basically falling back into what happened over a century ago. It takes a small party with what's considered politically obscene to get the ball rolling. It wont happen overnight. I wouldnt discount the small 3rd parties just yet. The defeatist attitude of voting for the winning party and feeling that you have to devote your loyalty to one because it's a waste to not do so is a dangerous mentality to have when it comes to dealing with politics. Also, a party only becomes futile when people arent backing it. After all we have something big businesses dont have. Sheer numbers. If people were to boycott or to walk out, it would do considerate damage. If everyone just started breaking copyright, there wouldnt even be enough lawyers to take on everyone. After all, laws are only laws because they get observed, if the masses no longer recognise a law or ruling party, it's invalid. So dont give up just yet. After all, the world largest consuming nation is the US. Anything we dont support en masse will result in bad things.
Faggotry of the worst kind.
And the same would be true of the Paedophile Party, the Terrorist Party and the Communist Party.
My question to you is: What does any of this have to do with the Pirate Party?
We need a revolt. As it in the current environs are revolting. Let me enumerate the number of retarted things we don't have:
Socialised medicine, healthcare, and education.
Parimentary government that follows robetrs rules of order.
A way to get rid of this idiot
(IE Capitain of Runing America Into the Ground)
No publicly financed Arts and Sciences.
No interest in joining the EU. Even though it's painfully obvious we are unable to run our own countery (effectively).
Etc. Etc. Etc.
If the pirate party does half the things it needs to in a inteligent way throwing out the current status quo. I say: Good ridance. Bloody idiots needed to be thrown out---centuries ago.
Parent asked:
Sadly, yes, it was. Now the only way to get it back is via constitutional amendment, and that takes
- either 2/3 of congress (house and senate) or 2/3 of the state legislatures (i.e. 34 states), and
- ratification by at least 3/4 of the states (i.e. 38 states)
Since 43 states allow their governors to use line item veto, you'd think this amendment would be a no brainer, but alas not enough people seem to care.References:
They'll help the cause because of something the Right Wing in the U.S. has understood for some time:
4
The Overton Window.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/9/11515/7257
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
In short: if you make people talk/think about a more extreme position than your own, your own becomes more acceptable.
Go Pirate Party!
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
is if you have say a photograph of an event which can't easilly be replaced with a known free one there is no way at all to determine if it has yet been allowed to fall into the public domain or not, so its effectively unusable forever.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
How about the 'Free Information' party instead? Many of the comments around here defending the Pirate party name come from that other doesn't sound as good or grab the attention that is needed. That's fair but before running to call your party the Murderer's party or Rapist party, when your party has absolutely nothing to do with either of those seems counterproductive. It tips the scales against you before you've said anything. There are many more decent sounding names than ones with criminal denotations that people can rally behind. They surely would be more popular at first sight with average citizens of America than something already subverted by its incorrect literal interpretation.
I have been getting fed up with how things are going in my country, and I have seriously considered running for office. However, when I am asked what party I would run under I do not have an answer. Most people that know me think I am a Democrat, but I have voted more Republican than Democrat. I vote for who I approve of despite party, and many times will not cast a vote for a race in which I do not approve of any of the candidates, effectively voting Present (if politicians can vote Present, then so can I).
I don't care for joining an interest group, but trying to make a difference by being a candidate gives me more fulfillment. I feel like I would be doing more as a candidate than as a member of an interest group.
First off, A war is declared between nations or states. We were a colony of english citizens.
Well, what was the revolution about? It was about breaking away from England (a somewhat ruthless ruler). The majority of coloniests were English, but not all. Now, when they objected to England's rule, they did such things as the Boston tea party. That is, that we dressed as "indians" and dropped emptied a ship. And yes, we killed several troops and civilian sin doing so (check your history books). Later, we proclaimed our independance and then had to fight for it (in the national treasure, the star gets it right in describing what would happen to the revolutions if they lost). And yes, we killed those who sided with the english. Not just troops, but civilians. Check your history books.Here is one reading for others. Somehow I doubt that you have study anything, save what the neo-cons teach you.
BTW, if you read the above and abstract it a bit, here is what you have.
- A group of people occupy a land.
- They want to break away from a country who is trying to rule them and tell them what to do.
- The start off with small skimishs, but there are deaths amongst the civilian population.
- Down the road, they vote to fight together against their rulers.
- The rulers have to send troops who are bigger, better equiped.
- So the little guys does hit and run tactics and then has the ruler troops call them terrorists.
- Then they win.
What war was it? Nearly all independence wars. And it is of concern today in Iraq, Chechnya, as well as in the past in Vietnam, India, and America.Kiddies, keep in mind, that those who do not pay attention to history are dommed to repeat it over and over (which is why we lost vietnam and will almost certainly lose Iraq).
Google is your friend. This were just from the front page.
Thepiratebay and the pirate party are two _completely_ different organizations. With different goals, different members, different sites and everything. Someone commented this clearly on the wired news article.
So please people get the facts straight.
The pirate party in sweden HAS NOTHING TO DO with the pirate bay!
Sorry if I'm a bit harsch.
It's equivalent to calling Dubya types "conservatives". They aren't -- the Bush administration is quite radical and has made drastic changes to how America conducts its affairs. Radicals are pretty much the opposite of conservatives, who generally seek to keep things the same or revert to conditions from the past. And they tarnish real conservatism by talking up things like fiscal responsibility and personal morality while displaying none of those traits. Wow, an entire nation led by people who are utterly hypocritical when it comes to politics. I might think less of Americans if that was somehow unusual, but sadly it's very common. "Communism"? Marx would have choked on his own rage if he'd seen the abomination Lenin came up with (which isn't to imply that Marx's real ideas would have worked any better). And so on...
Damn, now I'm grumpy. Fucking politicians, fucking celebs, fucking commies. Kill 'em all and recycle them as a cheap source of minerals and amino acids, I say. Leadership should be like jury duty -- random and only for people too stupid to get out of it.
Warning to the pirate party people: snatch your money out of PayPal as soon as it arrives. Knowing how sucky they are it's nearly certain they'll freeze your account.
Hmmmm... I read your article and no where did I see anyone associating OSS to terrorism. Now, the article, if you took the time to read it, did say that OSS is "vulnerable to terrorism" but this isn't the same as saying it was terroristic in nature. I'm sorry that you got caught up in the buzzword of todays media. If you still think that this is somehow an attempt to associate OSS to terrorism I guess the victims of 9/11 were terrorists in your eyes too since they were obviously "vulnerable to terrorism".
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
They can flip out and kill a whale boatload.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
The Democrats and Republicans may always be fighting against each other, but they have always joined together to ensure that no third party can ever gain a foothold in the government. History shows us that (with our system) when one party falls apart, another will rise to take its place. But we've really only ever had a dicotomy in the U.S.
My solution is simple, change the House of Representatives into portional representation. Portional representation differs in that you vote for the party, not the person. So if 10% of the US votes "Green Party", then 10% of the House would be made up of Green Party members. Since we elect them every 2 years, it would ensure that the American government keeps pace with the people it represents. The idea is that the party will choose the best people to represent their ideals for office. The downside is that the house members will no longer directly represent a small area of the country; but the upside is that more parties would form, and coalitions form to take the majority (often with the smaller parties winning a few compromises in the process). So while there is no longer a Congressman doing anything for a specific town or district, you'd see grass roots parties like the "Farmland of America" party springing up.
I think americans have seen how well their congressperson "looks out" for the people that elected them. I think people would have an easier time remembering whether the "Green Party" passed a law to clear away wetlands, than whether Congress person X did.
In 2004, Bush got a little over 28% of support (from people of voting age). Kerry got a little under 26.7%. (numbers from the first two sites on Google for "election voter turnout")
As you said, these numbers don't even reflect actual voter support: some (you and I presume large) fraction of these voters are only voting to keep the other guy out of office, making the support for the leader of the country miniscule at best.
Interesting statistics, just thought I'd post.
I [may] disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Nothing is wrong with libertarianism. But unless you are refering to the deregulation movement (funded by [multinational] corporate beneficiaries) libertarian ideals have long been on the decline (measured in policy successes). Splitting the movement again with more and more parties simply does not make sense.
Good luck, but friend, this is America, a two-party Republic. Unless you aim to be a revolutionary movement, you will have to work within the system if you want measurable success within years, rather than decades.
I for one welcome our pirate overlords!
Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.