Slashdot Mirror
Pirate Party Gains Another Seat In EU
bs0d3 writes "Amelia Andersdotter is a member of the Swedish Pirate Party elected in 2009. Originally her votes were not enough to beat fellow pirate Christian Engstrom for a seat on the European Parliament. Today the EU has redrawn the lines and 12 countries are to gain one or more MEPs — including Sweden, where Andersdotter is set to be confirmed."
can easily and truly say that, 'they represent me'.
i have given no allowance or authority to any other party, or representative, up till this point.
Read radical news here
I cannot support this party.
I do not support ANY political party that tries to extract tears from mermaids.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
As a member of the PPDCP (purple polka dot clowns party) I find this post highly offensive.
For years the UK had a party called "The Monster Raving Looney Party" which was lead by "Screaming Lord Sutch".
It was always rather special seeing the candidates on the podium waiting for the results, and there often being some fool in a silly hat up there. I think politics in the UK has since become much more pompous. Nothing wrong with a silly party or two - especially when it begins to sound like the only one making sense.
At least they are being honest in their party name!
Personally I wish this party would get elected http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Any more silly than "The Tea Party?" Or perhaps a party which refers to itself as the "Grand Old" Party? How about one that represents itself with an ass?
Politics is stupid. Might as well be forthcoming about what you stand for.
It's always confirmation bias!
There are very good reasons for that name, the most obvious being that a party with the same platform by any other name had remained an unseen web page.
For more, check the article "Why the name Pirate Party?" here: http://falkvinge.net/2011/02/20/why-the-name-pirate-party/
You only feel that way because you have been propagandized from birth. Look nobody should want to live in a world run by pirates, in cannons on stolen ships lets kill people and steal their stuff, sense. That world of might makes right sucks, want to know what can be worse than that? A world run by tyrants.
Our Western republics are day by day being taken over by small group or ruling oligarchs with tyrannical and authoritarian ideas on dictating your life cradle to grave, and you shot at becoming one of them is growing smaller by the hour as they slam the latches on your shackles closed. I was listening to the radio this morning and in the context of another story the speaker matter of factly stated many young Italians will never have a steady job!
Wow you know what the means it means they will always be in debt and always depend on hand outs, by extension following some process to get those handouts, and having to empower the people who give them those hand outs even at the cost of their opportunity to perhaps eventually not need them. They will never know independence; Its a kinder gentler form of SLAVERY.
With tyrants if you stand up you will be crushed, well unless you lead a successful revolution. With pirates, if you take a shot odds are you will be killed but you are little more likely to prevail than against an installed tyrant. Best part is if you win against a pirate you are the new pirate king (little K).
I'd take Pirates over the current world leadership, if asked to make a choice.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Now, now. I respect the right of anonymous people to be misinformed, even loudly. There's no need to call them names.
I have voted for them every chance I've gotten and I download everything I possibly can from iTunes, to the point of getting a US account. I also don't have a Spotify account since I don't like the pittance that the artists are awarded in contrast to what the labels themselves get for zero work. At least with radio, they send people out to bribe radio stations (which I'm against, but they *do* something). I can afford to, and am willing to, pay for music, movies, games and so on, and if that's what it was all about I wouldn't be writing this. I don't think that I'm a complete anomaly in the Pirate Party voter base. The current party leader is a publisher.
What voting for them is about for me is to put an end to compromising civil rights and democratic tradition in order for some industries to supposedly stay afloat. It's also about stopping communication surveillance that's almost completely useless and at any rate remarkably disproportionate and ineffective. (Search for "FRA law".) And, yes, as part of the party program is a plea to make sure that non-commercial file sharing is decriminalized because every possible (and quite a few impossible) obstructions are either contra-productive and/or violates basic laws or rights more severely that warranted. The whole green party bloc in the European Parliament has adopted Christian Engström's positions on this issue.
I suppose it's easy to just short-circuit to "I WANT FREE MP3S PLZ", but there really is more to it than that.
Because using Slashdot's "piracy" logo seems a bit counter-productive. Wikipedia shows a logo for the international organization.
But not in the way most people would be thinking.
Remember, Piracy was adopted as the major branding slogan by content publishers because they thought it would have negative connotations. Accuracy and truth were not a part of it; they were going for psychological hits rather than any actual reasoning based off of logic and justice.
In calling it a "Pirate Party" they are mocking the originators of the term. It had already lost its meaning and reversed, becoming an average term, and now used by a political party as a straight-out rallying term of endearment against anachronistic corporations and the politicians they control.
Which is in and of itself quite petty, and thus childish. Still amusing, and still a group of politicians that I'd trust further for many issues (completely unrelated to piracy or media) than most others.
But please consider this : many democracies were introduced with pirating at least partly involved.
The greek were pirating the phoenicians
The Vikings all of Europe
And the British pirated on Spain
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Maybe we can expect some democracy in Somalia soon?
As far as I know, the Pirate Party does NOT support the end of copyright. They support reducing it substantially. So if you cannot support a party that supports copyright, this isn't the party for you.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
So? Czech republic has "Balbin's Poetic Party" led by "Hereditary Genius Governor". When they organize a political gathering, it's 5 guys in old-fashioned black suits and bowler hats reciting poetry.
The Loony Party has in fact won a few elections, and also beaten major UK parties on occasion. As far as Pirate Parties go, I think an age difference might be at work here: Younger people like myself are used to listening to cogent arguments from people dressed in jeans and a T-shirt up against idiotic arguments from people in suits and ties. So we've learned the lesson that appearing respectable isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I am officially gone from
What makes me sad for being a member of human race is how many people confuse opposition against copyright monopoly with just wanting to download movies and music without paying. Pirate Parties around the world are built around the same values and ideals of sharing that have driven scientific progress for over 300 years. Isn't it peculiar that those parts of our economy most responsible for past progress and most important for future progress also have the least protection of "intellectual property"?