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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."
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.
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!
The Swedish party is named horribly as well, and they seem to be doing quite well.
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...
Actually, as logn as we've had the current two party system, single issue parties have really been the only ones that have succeeded..sort of. Works like this:
1. People found a party around an issue they feel is important but neither major party agrees.
2. Small single-issue party grows bigger
3. One major party takes notice, and absorbs the issue, effectively disbanding the party
I'm not saing it's great, but I suppose it's a kind of victory
True enough. "Copyright Reform Party", or "Intellectual Property Reform Party" or, I dunno, I'm not one of those political campaign managers, but almost anything would be better.
Actually, "Privateer" evokes a revolutionary-era image of our forefathers fighting for freedom from the (still) hated British.
But, these guys cant seriously expect votes, it's just a publicity stunt to get people to notice them and get some press. Unfortunately, they'll likely make a joke of the whole issue and hurt the cause more than help it, like when some elitist hollywood jackass get's all political and drags the party image into the mud.
Most people would vote GNAA before Pirate.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
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 could give a shit if the rights for Ashlee Simpson's latest hot single never expires. I don't really care. Make it a million years or something. The more it cost to use it, the less I'll have to hear it. The real problem here is when the copyright holders have a war against technology, try to shut down communications between people, and basically tell me what I can and can't do because there's a slight chance I might try to steal their shitty music.
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!!!!
Compare this to say, Sweden, where you vote for parties, and any party garnering over 4% of the vote (country-wide) gets legislative representation, without having to have majority support in any region. Then, such a party can make demands upon the larger parties seeking their support in forming a government.
I'm not advocating either form of democracy (I've seen the downside of both systems, having lived in both above-named countries), I personally dislike political parties and their influence. In fact the US constitution was intentionally crafted to prevent the influence of "factions" (source: The Federalist Papers), however futile this effort was...
Perhaps new copyright legislation should define the "limited time" as one half of the total average lifespan of an American citizen, according to an unbiased source (where do we get this statistic now?). Have it be measured and applied every 10 years. That way, copyright holders and their agents will have a real interest in the extension of the human lifespan as well, not just copyright!
Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
"...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
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.
Yes, but their name refers to copyright infringement. Not exactly the best way to get across the message that what you REALLY care about is cheap drugs for everyone and privacy for all (admirable goals).
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
hey should rename themselves "The Entertainment Wants To Be Free Party,"
Pirate Party rolls off the tongue - your name sucks. In today's media saturated world, that's important. I for one would love to be the first Pirate President.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
How about have it so copyright extention is paid for. You get your first 10 to 20 years as it is now, then you have to pay a renewal fee every say 3 to 5 years that doubles each time. Eventually it would become unprofitable to continue to pay the renewal and you'd have to release to the PD.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
First, we need to do something about how in the USA, it is almost impossible for a third, fourth, or fifth, not to mention more, party to win an election. When the Repulicrats talk about election reform, they talk about small tweaks that don't do much of anything useful. They stay from any fixes that give more than 2 parties a fighting chance. The Libertarians, Greens, Pirates, etc, don't have much in common except that they aren't electable under the current system. Everyone needs to get together with only one plank, to replace the current election system, then we can hold another election a month or two later. There are democratic governments all over the world we could study and emulate. I kinda like what they do in Australia - voting is mandatory for all citizens, but they have some really cool parties ye can choose as a protest or whatever.
If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest