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The Pirate Party of Canada Is Official
wasme writes "The Pirate Party of Canada has become the first Pirate Party outside of Europe to become an official political party. Elections Canada confirmed with the party that the PPCA has gained 'eligible for registration' status, and can run in elections starting June 14. From the PPCA's official announcement: 'We are pleased to announce that as of April 12, 2010, the Pirate Party of Canada is officially eligible for Party Status. After 10 months of dedication and hard work, we have reached eligible status, which only leaves a 60-day "purgatory" period. After that, we will field candidates in subsequent federal elections, and begin the real work of a political party.'"
Pirates of the Saskatchewan, by the Arrogant Worms
And it's a hi (hey) ho (hey) coming down the plains,
Stealing wheat and barley, and all the other grains.
And it's a ho (hey) hi (hey) Farmers bar your doors,
when you see the Jolly Rodger on Regina's mighty shores.
--------
But seriously, great news, and best of luck to 'em. Now go get those CRIA hosers.
I am officially gone from
If everyone who has ever used the Internet to obtain an unrestricted digital copy of music or a movie is going to be labeled "pirate", then I don't have any reason to avoid the term. The term has already lost all meaning.
I was born in the U.S., I purchased DVDs while living there. Now to watch what I've purchased, I'm a "pirate".
Turning over power to multinationalists
keep drinking coca-cola-corp products, eating nestle foods, and driving GM cars ... The problem with your reasoning is that you don't apply it to corporations.
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
If you're going to limit the naming of your party to "things Americans don't shoot at", you're seriously limiting yourself, slippery. "Democrats" and "Republicans" is right out the window for instance ; ).
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
...not as extreme promoters of the abolition of copyright, but the catalyst that led the eventual restoration of copyright as a tool to promote cultural innovation, instead of hampering it.
I can dream, can't I? :)
.: Max Romantschuk
Please, Bad Analogy Guy, explain to us how differences in physical geography cause different needs for digital freedom.
Yeah, many people amongst pirate parties feel that way too. But first, we think that the "second-degreeness" of the name is good and is a way to ridicule this "pirate" label that lobbyists are trying to give to people who just share files. There has already been some reaction (from the RIAA IIRC). They said that "pirate" was a bad term because it sounded "too cool" and that they needed to come out with a new term to qualify their enemies. We proposed "filesharers" but apparently that is not what they are looking for.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Actually, no.
The different pirate parties don't all work the same. I see it as a generic name for the concept, just like there's a "Communist Party" or "Conservative Party" in multiple countries. They may agree on the basics between themselves, but don't necessarily actively cooperate or agree on the specifics.
The different pirate parties do disagree on things like how long copyright should last. There's a general agreement that the current length is too long, but the swedish one wants 5 years, while there are others that would be fine with 20.
Your rather eloquent expression of the invalid conflation between egregious breaches of social morality and insignificantly trivial breaches of consumer behavior is misplaced.I think what you mean to say is "ARRRR!"
I hate printers.
Mr. Springsteen is that you?
I was born in the U.S.A.
Purchased DVDs while living there
Now to watch what I've purchased I'm a pirate yeah!
I was born in the U.S.A.
Why does it matter when a) they've been elected to the European Parliament and b) even the copyright lobby belives it's a "cool" name? It would be a near political suicide to try to change the name. There was a short lived "information society party" in Finland but that didn't go anywhere.
corporations don't make laws or form government you silly twit.
You must be new round here.
It's called the "golden rule" - he who has the gold, makes the rules. From where I'm sitting, corporations have most of the gold, and there sure are a lot of laws being made in their favour at the moment.
Plus, corporations may not form government, but they sure do field people who form government - Halliburton anyone?
Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne
The CD tax is a way of labels to have a cake and eat it -twice- too.
First you pay for "pirated content" in media tax, and then they will litigate and sue you for damages anyway.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Another Canadian political party siphoning off left-leaning voters. Already that vote is split between Liberal, NDP, Green, and (some would argue) the Bloc. This vote split is why the conservatives can continue to hold political power with 38% of the popular vote.
In political systems with fully proportional representation (example: Israel) these sorts of political parties make sense: the hurdle to get representation in the legislature is surmountable and you may even be brought into a coalition government. However, in first-past-the-post systems (Canada, US, UK) these vanity parties are only self-defeating. Whichever side of the political spectrum is best able to AVOID this fragmentation is almost guaranteed power. To use a Canadian example, look at the solid Liberal control in the 90s, made easy by a 3-way fragmentation on the right (the old PC party, Reform, and Alliance). Once those parties re-coalesced into the current Conservative party they were able to take over from the perpetually fragmented left.
If you have a particular issue that you want to advance in a first-past-the-post democracy, the correct move is to identify which of the major parties is most receptive to your goal, and organize within that party. Form an organization, raise money, make noise. If you're a visible constituency within a major party (and can be counted on to bring in votes, donations, and volunteers) then they will have reason to differentiate themselves by embracing your issue.
If instead your constituency says "ha! We're going to take our votes and make our own damn party" then BOTH major parties will simply say "ok, no need to listen to care what those guys want -- they're not going to vote for us anyway". You're only making copyright reform HARDER to achieve.
However, by using the name "pirate" (pirates in the physical world are dangerous, armed criminals), the parties are alienating a potentially broader public.
Oh there are a lot of people who remember a happy youth, dancing to pirate radio stations since that was the only way to get the good music.
"Pirate" is the perfect name in this historical context and rings pretty well with the intended supporters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio
it's in my head
The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden
I'm curious as to why you think your fantasies are of interest to the rest of us? :)
it's in my head
Pfft! Hadn't you heard? Canadians are notorious for killing seals.
i agree, pirate party is a retarded immature name. these clowns undermine serious copyright reform.
These "clowns" are actually running for political office and working from within the democratic system. If nothing else, the fact that they're acknowledged as a legitimate political party gives them access to a lot of extra soapboxes. TV interviews, debates, questions, these all serve to raise awareness about privacy concerns and governments selling out to big media.
So what have you done lately to promote serious copyright reform? And no, bitching about it on Slashdot does not count.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Spreading BS like "The goals of the party are essentially dictated centrally from Sweden and then implemented throughout the world wherever the PP has any power to do so." is very irresponsible, please stop that.
The various Pirate Parties are independent, there is no hierachy.
Who says their goal is to be in government?
Besides, the fact is, the PP in Sweden has succeeded rather well in both gaining lots of attention for the issues, and largely forced the hand of the established parties to start listening to people on copyright/IP issues. Across the board. The result is that Sweden is now one of the EU's biggest champions when it comes to advocating common-sense on these issues. (for instance, they've already made it quite clear they won't sign ACTA the way it looks at the moment).
Hyperbole. Which European country has parliamentary representation for a party with 0.5% of the vote? Usually the cutoff to get a seat in parliament is 3-4%.
So? If all people care about is one issue, to the extent that they're prepared to vote for a single-issue party, then why shouldn't that count for something? It's up to the other parties to decide if they want to compromise in exchange for support or not. If anyone should be criticized it's them.
Arrr, eh ?
1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
But what worries me about the Pirate Party is precisely that it is fundamentally international in nature.
What worries me is that many political parties which should be international in nature pretend to be merely local. For example, the UK's Official Monster Raving Loony Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party should expand internationally. Entry by the OMRLP into US politics could be disastrous for both the Republicans and the Democrats, since the policies of all three parties would be so closely clustered (on the sanity scale).
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
"When piracy basically didn't exist" means "When they didn't talk about it on the telly" right?
I am Canadian*, and I give that comment my seal of approval! ;)
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* Made out of Canadian philosophy extracts and high-European thought syrup.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
You're confusing governing with being in government.
You don't have to be in the government (have cabinet posts, i.e. control the executive branch) to govern. You still have full legislative influence by being in parliament.
For instance, the Swedish Greens have never been in government, but have succeeded in influencing lots of legislation.
To make an analogy to US politics, what you're saying is akin to it being dishonest to run for Congress if you have no intention of seeking the Presidency.
It's not necessarily the case that a small, single-issue party can maximize their influence by being part of government, since that would force them to ally themselves with a political block. It would also force them to shoulder political responsibility for the government's policies, even when outside their sphere of interest, something which could risk dividing their membership.
because they all pushed the "R" button.
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Mod parent up. Piracy (as in people boarding ships to ransack the cargo or kidnap the crew) has never ceased, it was simply marginalised to third-world regions where it did not affect "our" trade and therefore seldom made it into the news.
Rudolf Hess edited Mein Kampf. He was the very first grammar nazi.
Well, I wanted to pick something written by and about Canadians. Plus you have the rhythm and rhyme scheme all wrong. This is a better version:
"In short, in matters digital, downloadable and musical,
I am the very model of a modern copy criminal."
I am officially gone from
I think there may be a slight confusion in terms here - in English-speaking countries, "government" is often used to refer to the state as a whole. In that sense, the entire parliament and all authorities are part of the government.
In Sweden, the word is used in a stricter sense; only the executive organ is referred to as "government". The rest is referred to simply as "the state".
They call it theft for reasons that are quite clearly subliminal
In order to support a business model that's primordial
Infringement is a civil matter, extortion is criminal
But they push legislation that will kill our highway digital
And so we need a party that will argue antithetical
In order to preserve our freedoms we hold indispensable
So I say welcome to the party that is dubbed piratical
You'll get my vote election time lest Bob Rae joins your ensemble!