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Pirate Party Wins At Least One European Parliament Seat
reeeh2000 writes "According to TorrentFreak, with half of polling stations now closed in Sweden, the Pirate Party has at least one guaranteed seat in the EU Parliament. Currently, the party is sitting with 7% of the vote. Depending on how the remaining districts voted, the Pirate Party could win another seat, for a total of two."
Reader lordholm adds a link to an article about exit polls in Sweden (link in Swedish) indicating that the Pirate Party will score two seats, writing "According to the polls, the pirate party is the largest party in the 18-30 year age category of voters. The final counting of votes (including around a million postal votes) will not be done until later next week."
A fantastic result. It seems that democratic representation means something even to filesharers! Who would have thought that they're not all teenage hoodies checking out of society!
They couldn't have done it with out you.
Well done. If they do manage to change copyright law for the better, several countries should also follow suit.
I hope they will bring up for discussion a lot of the concerns of fellow slashdotters.
http://www.thelocal.se/19928/20090607/
Among voters aged under 30, some 19 percent are believed to have cast a vote for the Pirate Party.
"They are the biggest party among young people, bigger than both the Social Democrats and the Moderates," said politics professor SÃren Holmberg.
As I was just telling my girlfriend, one way or another, it should be the first time the EP gets people who actually understand present day computer technology.
It's one seat only for sure, however, it's my understanding that if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified (shudder), this opens up extra seats one of which would go to PP.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
This is one great big middle finger to the big parties who have ignored the privacy issues. Just this past month it's been very clear that the large parties are trembling because of the massive streams of voters who abandon them for the Pirate Party just because of these important issues. I really hope they will get with the program and realize that they can't dismiss the privacy debate and say that it's just a loud bunch who don't get it (the so called "pirates").
Fight for your digital freedom, join the EFF *now*: http://www.eff.org/support/
This is a historic step towards economic freedom and reform. Congrats to Sweeden for actually making democracy happen.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Hi,
the pirate party reached in germany 0,9%. Concerning lack of attention from the media, nearly non-existent funds and that stupid name, this is a very strong result for them.
CU, Martin
The Pirate Party got 7.1% wth 99.9% votes counted. This will give them 1 seat in the current parlament, 2 if the parlament gets extended according to the Lisbon treaty. /greger
If i was submitting to an exit poll that wasn't the REAL poll, i may put down pirate party for shits and giggles.
Great news! I really hope the 18-30 year olds can still make a difference in an ageing society like Europe. I'm concerned that some decades ago, when the median age was much lower, western democracies were more agile and creative (look for example at the hippies, I'm not sure if that still wouldn't be possible).
With almost all votes counted, in Germany the Pirate Party is at 0.9% with 228.445 votes counted so far, with 2 precincts still to report their votes.
Does the Pirate Party platform include issues besides copyright/privacy?
As a Swede, I am very proud that Sweden once again leads the way and is the first country to take an important issue seriously - wait until the next election and see Pirate Parties from countries all over Europe!
:wq!
Grats to the pirate party!
Now, I wonder how they'll vote in not related cases? I mean, when things like economical issues or education or other stuff comes up, are they just going to abstain or are we going to see real politics being performed?
You can find the final official result here:
http://www.val.se/val/ep2009/valnatt/rike/index.html
The purple bar (PP) represent the privacy/piracy party, 7,1% will give them one seat in the European parliamen.
There was no pirate party in my country so I didn't vote at all.
Sorry about the dissonance between subject & content. That's already two issues.
Great news! Unfortunately I couldn't vote for them, but just before the elections, I noticed that the number 4 candidate on the list of the Dutch party GroenLinks has practically the same ideas (and priorities) as the Pirate Party. I voted for him, but unfortunately GroenLinks only got 3 seats (which is still a pretty good result).
Of course these parties are still a tiny minority in the Europarliament, but if they can explain to their colleagues what's so wrong about current IP laws, they might end up having some very real impact.
You need to get at least 0.5% to get money from the state. approx 7 cent per vote. The total results can be found here: http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/en/europawahlen/EU_BUND_09/ergebnisse/bundesergebnisse/b_tabelle_99.html
It should be noted that although they call themselves the Pirate party, the focus of the party is on questions of privacy and integrity. Issues where voters have been repeatedly ignored and even betrayed by the established parties.
While one of the laws recently shoved down voter's throats, despite promises to the contrary, have been aimed towards curbing piracy, the real outrage has been against the privacy and integrity issues with this and other recently passed laws regarding interception of domestic communications etc. (Well, that, and giving corporations the ability to petition courts to perform searches that, under similar conditions, would not be granted even to the police.)
The 7.1% the Pirate Party got gives them one seat. See http://www.val.se/val/ep2009/valnatt/rike/index.html. It is incredibly unlikely that they'd get another one. Nearly all of the advance votes have already been counted.
The advance votes get sent to the polling station where one would have normally voted on and are counted as part of the normal counting process. See http://www.val.se/in_english/2009_ep_election/index.html. Those advance votes that aren't counted yet are those advance votes that were placed on Sunday, which are relatively few given Sunday was the ordinary election day.
Anyhow the final count will be available on Wednesday.
while true; do eject; eject -t; done
entertainment industry has been. There is a better way to handle this.
They also want to reform patent and trademark law, but that's it. However, the issues that they are dealing with, most importantly the right to privacy, are in my mind (and obviously many others) much more important than the issue of whether taxes should be at 31% or 32%.
Infinite time means everything that can happen, will. You being you is absolutely incidental. You do not exist.
I don't think so, and I don't really think the point of the pirate party is to be a continual party. Their point is to say A) Filesharing for personal use should be legal B) Give us our privacy C) Enough people care about this that they will elect people who are virtually unknown just so they don't have to be stuck with you. Eventually, they will get their goals if this keeps coming up, real debate on copyright and privacy. When that happens other parties will take their stances (and most will be pro-pirate) and so eventually the pirate party will become obsolete. It takes a few radicals to make change happen.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
At the very beginning I was till hoping the good boys of PP will get the second seat, but by now it's very unlikely.
Still, good initial showing. Congrats! Now time to open a Finnish chapter, as well (we Finns and Swedes always like to argue, but in truth we are very similar).
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
We the people in the U.S. should be a bit ashamed of this in all we claim about ourselves on a regular basis. For those who are paying attention, we already know we have shifted over into "the Corporate States of America" bent on expanding to become "the Corporate States of Earth."
As far as copyright and intellectual property is concerned, I'll agree that there is a place for it, but it has exceeded its usefulness and purpose tremendously. It now harms the public, culture and future-history in its present form and should be balanced with the interests of the individual. We need a "Pirate Party" in the U.S... or at least a body like the EFF or ACLU or something like that. (NYCL? Is that your calling?)
The Pirate Party have policies against software patents, so this is good news also in that respect.
Their voting weight will be small, but they can help make the group dynamics of the European Parliament more favourable to campaigners against software patents (much as the Greens did in 2002-2005, and still do).
Please help publicise swpat.org - the software patents wiki
If it weren't for the hippies Europe would not be an "aging society", they dealt a double whammy to Europe after the population losses of WWII. May all manner of socialists continue to lose support in Europe. And may we be lucky enough to ignore every social and political meme that has come out of the Fubar States of America the last 50 years and whatever poison they choose next.
The Pirate Party has an English page here that describes the basics. It has gained a lot of support after they, together with bloggers etc, managed to drum up public opposition to a wiretapping law, a law forcing ISPs to store traffic data, new copyright enforcement laws and the Pirate Bay trial. It has been growing since 2006 and spreads internationally, but this is the first parliamentary seat.
Woah... they went from 0 to 100kph in like 1 second. If I was the other parties i'd be taking notice. One seat probably isn't going to change much but it has been amazing to watch this whole thing unfold and the threat it all posses to the other parties if they don't stop taking money and order's from big business/brother...
It might be interesting for slashdotters to know that the top-candidate of the Pirate Party is a free-software contributor, and has been working a lot previously to establish open standards and to fight software patents.
Their success might turn out to be an asset for free software as well as integrity.
Important stuff
Who the fuck really cares what a swede does, or votes for? When was the last time you heard about Sweden-anything? Never? That sounds about right. Sweden was once known for an all-chick ski team. That's about it. If you know of more sweden-things, speak up.
Freedom of Information and Privacy are their stated goals, and that with regards to both online and offline activities.
So it's limited, but not nearly as limited as JUST copyright and patent reform.
They get two seats, but the second seat will be a non-voting seat (She [assuming it is Amelia Andersdotter]) will get the salary, personal staff but no vote until and if the Lisbon treaty passes.
Ugh. How horrible. It's like seeing the Communists placing in the EU elections. Neither of them understand basic economics.
If you wanna invade Denmark anytime soon you'd be most welcome ;)
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
Whar be the swarthy sea-dogs in eyepatches and conical paper hats? 'Tis time to play Pin The Tail On The IP! And don't forget to trade the files on the USB sticks hidden in yer peg legs, me hearties!
Long? What do you mean the signature at the bottom of every comment I post on Slashdot is too lo
Seems to me like people in Europe enjoy more freedoms than we do here in the US - the self proclaimed "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave".
That's what you get with a single party system, my friends. And no, this is not a typo - Dems and Repubs are pretty much the same party with minor variations. There's nowhere near the diversity of political opinion in the US as what you'd see in Europe. We need a raving, rabid, card carrying socialists to balance the equation somewhat on this side of the pond. All branches of the government have been licking the Big Business' behind for far too long.
The Pirate Party only has three issues on its agenda:
That's from their English information page. So yes, they virtually are. On the other hand, I don't think it really matters. They're not going to become a dominant party, but they may come to play a useful role in influencing legislation. But no, you probably wouldn't want to give them presidency of the parliament.
Shocking! I've never heard such stunning allegations about the United States before! My good sir, who do you think you are? ;-)
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
Seems the other parties completely missed the importance of this issue, the only other party that took this seriously and campaigned for increased protection of personal integrity was the Green Party, and they too seem to have gained an extra mandate from this issue.
The pirate party will most likely send Christian Engström to Brussels, who actively (and successfully) campaigned against software patents in the EU as a member of FFII, so it will be very interesting to see what he can do these next 5 years.
Sweden has for a long time been known as an advanced IT nation with widespread computer use, broadband connections, IT companies and so on. In the last few years that has come to change with new repressive laws like FRA and IPRED, but today we took back some of our lost pride. It's good to see that we give Europe a voice for a reformed copyright and patent law, free culture, and privacy and democracy on the Internet. Even if it's difficult for this person - most likely Christian Engström - to affect decisions directly among 735 other MPs, his presence will have two important consequences:
1) It gives Brussels some sorely needed competence on these issues to act as a counterweight against lobbyists trying to influence decisions.
2) It sends a message to the other parties that they cannot continue ignoring the rights of their citizens forever.
I voted for the Pirate Party and I hope this result will be the first step towards a European Union that cares more about our rights online.
If piracy is okay, then I can use GPL code however I want, because if copyright law is wrong, then the GPL has no legal standing. The GPL relies on copyright law in order to be a legally binding license.
Do Slashdotters even think their positions through, or are they too self-serving to see through their own bullshit?
"Sufferin' succotash."
There are 736 members in the European Parliament.
200 more than the US Congress. It all seems a little unwieldy. Difficult to make an impression.
The median age:
Sweden 41 US 37 CIA World Fact Book
Reality shows are the most successfully exported European television programmes, notably to the United States.
Programmes such as Survivor - produced by British-Swedish company Planet 24 and which has contestants competing in the wilderness for cash and other prizes, Big Brother of the Netherlands' Endemol - where a group of people live together in a house isolated from the outside world while constantly watched by cameras, and British 19 Television's Pop Idol - a show for music star wannabes, have become massively popular with American viewers.
Under EU rules, the majority of the European channels' programming must be devoted to European works, with at least 10 percent of that time or of their programming budgets to independent European productions.
Currently, certain channels in eight EU member states - Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK - still do not comply with these requirements however, and European productions account for less than 50 percent of their programming.
Europe's Biggest TV Export: Reality Shows [May 29}
This suggests to me that support for piracy is strongest where support for the politically-mandated domestic product is weakest.
Freeloaders of the world Unite! 'nuff said.
Wouldn't a 20 year copyright be more than enough for you, as a game developer? Because that's what the Pirate Party is advocating. Currently, in many countries, copyright extends up to 70 years after the death of the author. What sense is there in that? It's bullshit, plain and simple. And nobody's fighting against this crap in the political arena, nobody but the Pirate Party.
It's okay.. but don't make the mistake to think this is just about online privacy. This is offline privacy as well. How about having your cellphone tracked 24/7 and having those logs stored for 6 months. Or those hilarious SMS:es you sent while out partying, also stored for 6 months. This is now reality. Pretty rough awakening, don't you think? Not the most pressing matter? well perhaps not. We all value things differently. Me, I take my privacy way more serious than other EU matters or even the financial crisis. //castrox
Fight for your digital freedom, join the EFF *now*: http://www.eff.org/support/
Yeah, that's a little deceptive. When is the last time a song was banned in the US? If you are an adult, have you ever had trouble purchasing a violent video game in the US? If you are a member of an extremist group (non-violent, at least), do you need to hide that in the US? Can you buy military style weapons in the US? You may not agree with some of the freedoms we have in the US, but they remain available.
I could come up with a list of things that are more accessible and free in the EU. It's give and take. Each area has advantages when it comes to freedom. I don't think you can make a blanket statement that one area enjoys more freedoms than the other without qualifying which freedoms are most important to you.
While this is obviously a welcome result for those who support The Pirate Party, I think a lot of people posting here over-estimate the influence one MEP is going to have. At least I hope they do, because here in the UK, the British National Party just won a seat as well.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Considering what else is "offered", I'd say that can already be far more than enough to get my vote.
Let's be honest here, when I peruse our political parties and their agendas... yes, it would be enough to get my vote. At least it's something I support.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
IIRC they didn't even want to be a "real" party. They basically wanted to get enough votes so other, established, parties would pick up their issues to harvest those votes back.
I forsee the same development we had in the 80s with the Greens all over Europe. Nobody took the "eco-loonies" serious, nobody cared about environment issues, so a party was founded and behold, it was important enough to enough people that some "fluffy treehugger party" gained enough speed to become an established party. The Greens started out as a one-issue party as well: Environment and pollution. Now they're something the "established" old parties have to deal with.
You'd guess they should've learned their lesson from the 80s, that they should pick up other parties' issues before they become strong enough that voters don't consider it a "lost vote" if they cast their vote for them. Appearantly, parties don't learn from history more than the average person does...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Don't get your hopes up. Sweden is a noteworthy exception in Europe, most of the rest is basically stuck in a similar system the US "enjoy". Two almost impossible to distinguished "mass parties" sharing about 60-80% of the seats in the parlaments, with some minor parties sprinkled in to make the whole thing a wee bit more interesting. And even this "interesting" part has been mostly eliminated with predetermined coalitions, basically reducing the whole multi-party system to a two-side system.
Don't worry, my friend, you're not much worse off than we are. Except the land of the free, Sweden.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm not American but it looks like the problem in the US is that everyone votes for one of the two main parties (or the one party as you call it). The voters speak every election and they always say that they WANT to be ruled by two parties.
"Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
I'm also from Europe. Sadly, not from Sweden.
When you look at the rest of Europe, right-leaning to right-wing parties won the elections. Meaning, in general, that you may assume privacy will be taking a back seat behind big corporation interests and "protection".
Why not in Sweden? Why are Swedes appearantly inoculated against the fearmongering and scare tactics? And how do we export this to the rest of Europe?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
people like to talk about "stupid Americans" or British.
Im outa britern an i ain't stoopid. You Germans with your efficient cars and rather wonderful scenery. Oops, can anyone see where I went wrong!?
That would be far more interesting.
There already is a finnish chapter, that is now recognized as an official political party. However, they missed the registration date for the EU election by a hair. The next election will come in a few years.
pray tell us. distribution companies giving out 1 cent over $20 dvds, and then forcing bands to go on tour around the world and work their ass off for the money fucking distributors DID NOT give them ? how many musicians break down due to stress and wear and tear, and then start various drugs, heroine and then totally fade away are you aware ?
no. you arent. if you were, you wouldnt be defending a fucking medieval exploitation system like you have done just above.
Read radical news here
abolishing of carriage industry and the creation of an entirely new automobile industry was wishful thinking at its time too.
its not wishful thinking what he said. but its idiocy and lack of foresight, what you said.
Read radical news here
I do not agree with many of the Pirate Party proposals, but it's still good to see true, working democracy in action. It's how you change things if you want them changed.
LIMITED time to gain return on investment. None of this infinity minus one year crap. Give them 5 years of royalties and then it's open season. Products would have to be innovative to survive. Something that is missing in many products these days.
Stop persecuting people who share files and persecute those that download them. Since when is leaving your garage door open a crime? You prosecute the person who steals from your open garage, not the home owner who leaves the garage door open. They should be prosecuting those that download the files, not those that share them. Seems to me that folks who share files out are similar to those using entrapment to lure someone into a crime. IANAL, but isn't a case thrown out if someone uses entrapment to lure someone into a crime?
They should also be required to prove how many songs were downloaded rather than some made up number that sounds impressive.
Fucking fuckers with their fucking intellectual fucking property fuck fuck! Fuck fuck? Fuck fuck molesting little children fuck fuck!
Comment of the year
Finland's political landscape is quite diverse in party terms.
~20% conservatives
~20% center
~20% social democrats
~10% green
~10% nationalists
~5% swedish speakers
~5% left (former commies)
~5% christian
The rest is divided between hardcore commies, nationalists, the poor, pensioners & libertarian.
Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom (games that made John D. Carmack into "John Carmack") were all shareware games.
Without file sharing the success of those games and his career would have been questionable at best.
Also... Do you have any fucking idea who you are talking about?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carmack
As reported in David Kushner's Masters of Doom, "when Carmack was 14, he broke into a school to steal Apple II computers, was arrested, and sent for psychiatric evaluation (the report mentions "no empathy for other human beings"). Carmack was then sentenced to a year in a juvenile home.
Carmack is a well-known advocate of open source software, and has repeatedly voiced his opposition to software patents, which he equates to "mugging someone".
Carmack released the source code for Wolfenstein 3D in 1995 and the Doom source code in 1997. When the source code to Quake was leaked and circulated among the Quake community underground in 1996, a programmer unaffiliated with id Software used it to port Quake to Linux, and subsequently sent the patches to Carmack. Instead of pursuing legal action, id Software, at Carmack's behest, used the patches as the foundation for a company-sanctioned Linux port. id Software has since publicly released the source code to Quake, Quake 2 and most recently Quake 3, all under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Doom source code was also re-released under the GPL in 1999.
The id Tech 4 ( Doom 3 Engine ) will also be open source. At QuakeCon 2007, Carmack said to LinuxGames: "I mean I won't commit to a date, but the Doom 3 stuff will be open source."
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Beyond the topic actually being discussed, I just wanted to celebrate your use of the incredibly useful word "mu", which I wish would be more widely used in conversations of this type. (Yes, seriously.)
It's the voting system. Specifically, Duverger's law. Unlike in most of Europe, the US's legislatures are based each seat representing a specific region instead of proportional representation. This is pretty much required for historical reasons: changing the US to a PR system would be more or less equivalent to the federal government staging a coup and announcing they had conquered the states. Needless to say, that would not go over well. This is exacerbated by gerrymandering wherein the vast majority of the districts are expertly shaped to always go to the same party.
Personally, I think there are further issues with the transparency of the government and campaign finance which help keep the current system in place. There are other questionable practices like the TV debates being run by a bipartisan group that bans third-party candidates, and the media not wanting to have to bribe more parties so they pretend third parties don't exist: most notably I remember one primary (looking at the results it must have been Nevada) where the news reports all said "Romney first, McCain third"; some even eventually had a little side-note about how Ron Paul came in second.
And they are also very strong on the protection of personal integrity, in particular civil rights like the right to free speech, privacy and a fair trial.
After having followed the swedish election campaign closely, it looks to me like the protection of personal integrity got them their victory.
Maybe. All it takes are allegations of violence, or allegations of potential violence .... Really, all it takes is the word of the government.
You can legally buy neutered firearms, not exactly military style. The firearms which you can legally buy, you must register, or in some way sacrifice anonymity, in most places. You can buy pepper spray, etc, in most places, AFAIK, with a good degree of anonymity. But firearms are completely different.
Billy Brown rides on. Yolanda Green bypasses Gary White.
That's what you get with a single party system, my friends. And no, this is not a typo - Dems and Repubs are pretty much the same party with minor variations.
Why don't you start a revolution then?
You completely missed his point. You two agree.
by googling for people with badly set-up web-interface torrent clients. Here's my fave: http://jaitlyhome.com/
Every time this subject comes up there are posts with quotes of paying in blood for your freedom and such. Yet Americans freedoms have eroded since 2001 and despite the country being choke full of privately owned firearms there is no Revolution, only stupid bbs venting. I've given it some though and I think I have a credible hypothesis. According to US Surgeon General 2/3 of Americans are either obese or overweight. Now, I personally find it hard to imagine a Revolution of the FAT. How can you expect an average American to take arms against the corrupt government and endure the hardships of a long struggle if they can barely get up, get to the car, to the elevator, to the cubicle and back to the couch in front of the TV?
US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
That's sorta like the Rhinoceros Party winning a seat in Canada.
#1. every crime you hold the two party system responsible for also happens in multiparty states. in other words, the two party system does not cause the corruption you believe it does
#2. we DO have multiparty systems in the usa. clinton beat bush #1 in 1992 because ross perot split the right. nader cost al gore the election in 2000 by ekeing away from the left. go to google and type in "whig". read up on its history. why didn't a new party come in and stand next to the whig party rather than come in and REPLACE the whig party? because the us system is MATHEMATICALLY rigged to favor a two party equilibrium. three or more parties in the usa is unstable: two parties are just bound to dominate, and weaken the third/ fourth/ etc. its mathematics of the rules playing out, that's all, not some sort of plot
#3. the left/ right dichotomy is a basic political axis that exists even in multiparty states. multiparty states often devolve into dominant party states. meaning, one party holds the majority of power for decades. sound better?
#4. a benefit of a two party system you don't recognize is it forces both parties to compete for the moderate, forcing the agendas of both parties to moderate rather than radicalize (yes, i know some of you think both parties are far right, or both parties are far left: this is more a reflection of your own radical politics than political reality, and few people share your opinion with you, since you believe both parties are right, both parties are left, you are fringe, and therefore of a very minor and mostly irrelevant cranky point of view)
#5. a negative of multiparty systems is they rule by coalition. what this means is the ultraleft greens with throw out all of what they stand for ideologically to get in bed with a far right racist party in order to hold onto the craven need for power. go ahead, ask any german. meaning: in multiparty systems, people can be even more shallow ideologically then they might seem to you in a two party system
i'm not saying the two party system is wonderful and perfect. it has plenty of problems. i understand and agree with the founding father's distrust of them. but i understand they aren't some plot, they aren't colluding, they aren't the same, unlike some fools you hear. they are just inevitable emergent phenomena of politics playing out. restart the usa as some sort of experiment 1 times, 10 times, 100 times... every single time, you'll wind up with an equilibirum of two parties. not one party, not three parties, not no parties, but two parties
i'm just sick of people who think it is at the root of all of our political problems. if we changed all of the political rules in the usa so there were more than two parties, NOTHING WOULD CHANGE ABOUT WHAT YOU HATE ABOUT POLITICS
please take a moment educate yourself the slightest about the subject matter, THEN open your mouth. here, here's a primer, follow the links, edumacate yourself PLEASE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-party_system
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
How about the fact that the penalties for "download[ing] copyrighted stuff" (which is not illegal except under specific circumstances; if it were always illegal, then everyone on Slashdot, and in fact almost everyone who uses the internet for anything, would be a criminal) are increasingly absurd and draconian, and in many cases the mere accusation of misconduct is sufficient to cause those penalties to be invoked?
That's one sentence...simply amazing.
[UID-HeinzIntel]
Yes, their Swedish top candidate Christian Engström is actually a former anti-software patent activist for FFII. Both of the two biggest parties in Sweden has clearly shown in the past that they don't understand this issue, so it's great to be represented by the Pirate Party in the European Parliament. Especially since the Swedish government says that they'll prioritize the issue of making it possible to get EU-wide patents this autumn (the software patent supporters will sure see that as their chance to once again push their questionable agenda).
it didnt even get a chance to be voted on, either my fellow citizens are lazy idiots, or the other parties denied yet another new party its existence ... i was thinking about moving to France, but Sweden is starting to look more attractive
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
It has already been opened, the party got the required 5000 supporter-cards and they have been sent to be validified (check http://www.piraattipuolue.fi/english). Unfortunately this happened a bit too late for this election (two weeks I think, someone can correct). Waiting for Finland's national elections later on, I'm sure to vote for them.. =)
-Deepone
We TOTALLY need a Pirate Party here in France/Belgium, I hope we will get one before the next electionsâ¦
Segmentation Fault in "Life, Universe and Everything" at line 42. Don't Panic.
That may have been the case a while back, I'm not so sure anymore. Internet censorship is being introduced across the board, police are being given the right to covertly install trojans on citizens' computers (germany, france at least, so expect EU-wide plans soon), there's constant pressure to pass three-strikes laws to force ISPs to disconnect users who allegedly download copyrighted material without authorization. In general the trend seems to be for more legislation of increasing complexity in all areas of life. This is not aided by the nature of EU decisionmaking, an obscure process extremely distant from the people it actually affects. The next great totalitarian state will be born not of hatred or passionate mass movements, but as the consequence of a relentless influx of new laws. The legislators have to do something to keep themselves busy, after all.
It is precisely because of your history. The Weimar republic was ungovernable and had a great multiplicity of parties. This was largely because after WWI, Germany, formerly an authoritarian monarchy, did not have the democratic culture in place necessary to make an otherwise standard democratic system work. Many parties of similar color could not work figure out how to work together and compromise while still retaining their voters. This allowed extremists to have a significant say in politics due to their relative unity despite the fact that they represented a minority. The result was that the Nazis, with only a third of the vote, were able to legally take control of the system. The allies insisted that the 5% provision be placed in the post-war Grundgesetz to ensure that West Germany could develop a stable democratic culture without these kinds of problems.
Today this precaution is probably no longer necessary: Germany clearly has a stable, democratic culture in place: so strong that its neighbors get a bit annoyed by it sometimes. However, changing political systems is always a risky business with unforeseen consequences, so you will not see people take the risk unless there is a clearly perceived benefit. I don't think people will see the pirate party as worth the risk.
I write the ip stacks on many of the routers in use. The main instruction used is COPY(). When many of these routers are wired, it might as well be called a COPY instead of a network. And the internet is basically just "The Intercopy"
This may educate people that equates filesharing with "stealing", and companies planning some DRM scheme; Anything that is connected to the big Intercopy is copied. It is in the nature or the big Intecopy to do this.
Trying to change this fact with laws and technology is like trying to stop soundwaves from an outdoor concert to not reach anyone who did not sign the purchase agreement.
If you don't want your music to be in the public, don't perform in the public. If you don't want your movies copied, don't perform on the intercopy (or internet). simple as that.
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
We need a raving, rabid, card carrying socialists to balance the equation somewhat on this side of the pond.
http://www.google.com/search?q=bernie+sanders
A) Big movies productions
B) Citizens' privacy & offense/punishment balance
Sadly, these two are mutually exclusive. I opt to save B.
The US already has those raving, rabid, card carrying socialists but it doesn't balance anything. We technically do have more then just the dems and repubs, the problem is that the way things are set up these are the only parties that get attention and funding. This is why these parties lick the big business backside to get that money to maintain control. Both of these parties are focused more on maintaining control then what is best for the country, they just go about it in different ways. (Which is a discussion for a different time.)
I would also argue that we need a true republican voice. You know someone who believes in pro-choice because the government shouldn't get involved, gay marriage because the government shouldn't get involved, lack of gun control because the government shouldn't get involved and that the primary purpose of the government is to protect the people from businesses and other governments.
Yea, I know, never going to happen but a man can dream.
It'd be nice if we had some capitalists too.
Yes, you read that right. Federal protection of private interests is hardly "capitalist," regardless of what some claim.
YARRRR YA SWABS
No, military (especially automatic) weapons are actually regulated. For instance, the US Army can have clips with more than ten bullets in them.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
What you are saying is close to herecy. People in the US have the most freedoms.
Anyone disagreeing that has not listened carefully enough at school and will be promptly sent to retraining.
How is a socialist going to balance the American equation? Our government is the biggest it's ever been! We need people to come in and start shrinking the government!
What would you expect to happen to a country where the populace can't comprehend anything more than us versus them, and who aren't willing or interested in trying? When there are more people voting in American Idol than in the presidential elections, you know there's something deathly wrong with society.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
it's now a slavery contract.
Look at the case with India: a necessary drug was being denied because India couldn't afford that rate. India then said that they'd just make the drug themselves.
Suddenly, the cost of production went down and they could sell the drug at the reduced rate.
How many people died or suffered while the drug company was grand-standing?
Some arguments revolve in "well, without copyrights how do we get paid", and the two sides argue either paid for work done while the copyright proponents argue for continual pay and some try to argue they don't get paid that much.
First, if they didn't get paid that much, then this whole issue would be of no concern to anyone (even those who are receiving pay). Do you think a bum really cares much about finances considering he only get's mere chump change? It's only the people who reap great rewards who seem most concerned about diminutive finances even if they are merely indirect. To attain a more clear idea of this concept, think of the truck driver hauling petroleum. While gas prices rise, he is unaffected. While the claims in the media assert that part of the reason the gas prices rise is to, in part, pay the trucker, in reality his pay stays the same with diminishing health benefits. The only people benefiting from the 10 cent rise in pump prices, are the people at the very top, and no one or no thing or no process or procedure has change anywhere in between the pump and the CEO of Exxon or BP. To the trucker, it's an extra 10 cents, no real big deal only noticable via his general math skills but since he has a "good job" he only voices is opinion on price change via a political sentiment, hardly a financial one. The only one motivated by the zeal of a 10 cent rise is the one who can reap all of those 10 cents into a single pot rendering multiple millions via sum.
This whole copyright thing really is about the Big Dogs extorting control, distribution and price of products they are legally rightful of. Let's take Alexandre Kalishnikov for example. Designer of the AK-47, undoubtedly a best seller through and through. Does he reap royalities? Pretty sure he doesn't. But, is a copyright system in America any better? Who exactly is running all these law suits, all the claims of copyright and patent infringment? The Industry had to pay or force Metallica to do a publicity stunt against Napster. It's rarely the actual artist that claims copyright infringement, the only one that comes to mind is Prince. It's always, someone who probably doesn't actually hold or created the copyright, it's someone who took the copyrights from the original copyright holder to begin with. Sony Entertainment owns a butt-load of copyright material... Sony created none of it, just forced their entertainers to forfeit their rights of the material to them. In the end, we are all, Alexandre Kalishnikovs.... whether it's a wealthy chinese weapons manufacture, or a wealthy Sony CEO... one thing is for sure the actual inventor probably isn't at a loss due to piracy, nor was he actually reaping the real profit off his inventions.
This whole issue really boils down to one thing. The heads of the industry want to exploit this new technology for a way to increase their revenue, and if some law will allow them to charge for every additional copy, then they will be loving this whole internet thing. The inventors, poets, musicians, composers, engineers, writers, scribes, tradesmen, journeymen, craftsman... it's just going to be another day to them. And regardless of which laws are adopted, only those at the top are effected while their source for resources (intellectual resources) are shafted all the same. Do you really believe, those poorly paid people in the Entertainment industries will get a pay raise if the laws were passed in favor of the RIAA or MPAA? God, you're a fool if you think so.
Before the election, the Pirate Party stated that they would join either the green group or the liberal group, depending on where they will be offered the most influence. The strategy is to vote along with the group on all issues not immediately covered by the party's written principles, in exchange for being listened to on their own issues.
Take THAT Ninja Party!!!!!
Swedish never made any contribution in culture, science and technology.
Agree in principle that the Recording Industry (Saleable Copyright model) is not working, but the "pay for creative work up-front" seems to have major drawbacks - principly that you have no idea if a creative person is any good until they've delivered the goods, creating chicken and egg.
I think you're missing a trick though: live performances.
I've read up on the subject as a former MP3.com artist myself, from talking to upcoming bands like Silverman and from the widespread public writings of established artists. All say that recording artists rarely make any money from sales though their record company; in fact they normally end up heavily in debt (the famous record label "tab").
Let me say that again: most artists do not profit from music sales. Only the record labels (and industry quangos like the RIAA) profit from music sales. Instead, most current artists make their money from live gigs, merchandise, appearance fees, etc - the good old fashioned "goods/services for cash" model.
As soon as you appreciate this, you realise you can ditch the record label altogether, "open source" your music (allow to be freely distributed on a non-profit basis, with distribution channels allowed to charge a small fee to cover their costs if they wish) and make money from gigs, etc, instead as your popularity grows.
This is not a new idea: numerous bug names in music are advocating the idea. Here's a quote from an excellent 2007 Wired feature by former label boss David Byrne:
"What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists."
"The fact that Radiohead debuted its latest album online and Madonna defected from Warner Bros. to Live Nation, a concert promoter, is held to signal the end of the music business as we know it. Actually, these are just two examples of how musicians are increasingly able to work outside of the traditional label relationship. There is no one single way of doing business these days. There are, in fact, six viable models by my count. That variety is good for artists; it gives them more ways to get paid and make a living. And it's good for audiences, too, who will have more - and more interesting - music to listen to. Let's step back and get some perspective."
Wise words. Full article (well worth a read):
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne
If that's not enough for you, plenty of similar reading at:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/record-label.htm/printable
http://www.sourban.net/The-Future-Of-Music-How-Real-Artists-Will-Save-Music-From-The-Music-Industry
http://www.magnatune.com/info/musicians
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_yorke
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=music+artists+make+money+live+performances+record+label
Cheers, Ben