Aussie Pirate Party Goes Full Steam Ahead
Following an official press release recently that the Pirate Party of Australia is now accepting members, a scathing editorial was written in the Sydney Morning Herald. Such a response was expected, but this tone usually changes when they receive support from thousands of followers.
FreakBits had a chance to have an unofficial sit-down with some of the guys behind the whole deal, hoping we could dispel some of the rumors and maybe give readers a clearer picture of what they are actually trying to accomplish.
What this reporter found when he ventured, totally unprotected, into the official IRC chat room of the PPAU was not a bunch of ‘open slather’ downloaders who have no aim or direction. In contrast with the insinuations in the original article, it is a well spoken group of concerned Australians who are in the beginning stages of what may turn out to be an influential force in the future of politics down under.
The first goal of the fledgling political party was nearly met; obtaining 500 members in order to qualify for registration with the Australian Electorial Commission. The announcement was made last Monday and the party reports that already over 1400 inquiries have been made since then.
The platform of the group is not, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, to abolish copyright laws completely. The aim is to decriminalize file sharing meant for private use and non-profit. Not to get rid of the laws, but to reform them. Another thing that was misrepresented was the fact that preventing censorship and Internet filtering is also a huge part of their platform.
Similar groups have had success in other parts of the world. The Swedish party recently won a seat in the EU Parliament with over 200,000 votes.
Going on record, the Pirate Party stated that they would gladly have sat down with the Sydney Herald to explain better their views had the request been made. None such was ever received. Speaking from personal experience, they were more than glad to chat it up with FreakBits.
For more information or to join the cause (they do accept non-Australian members) check out their website. Stay tuned for more from Freakbits as their story unfolds.
Hi, your post is so realistic .
I love your style.
It will be very useful to many people
nice to see people actually doing something toward our privacy, its just getting out of control now…
great post! thanks for all your work xxoozero :)
At last, the millions of file sharers fight back against the greedy barstuds who make gazillions out low quality CG & sound effect filled movies as well as constantly revamped old music. Yes I am a grumpy old pirate!
Hello !
This is digged on: http://digg.com/politics/Aussie_Pirate_Party_Goes_Full_Steam_Ahead_FreakBits
My digg history: http://digg.com/users/sunurb01/history
By the way, we (The Pirate Party in Sweden) has two seats in the EU Parliament after the Lisboa treaty.
Regards, Urban
“check out their website.”
Right-click –> Open in new tab!
Great coverage… I was unaware of the Pirate Party and missed the story in SMH. As an Aussie musician who strongly believes in digital distribution as a viable new business model and is very concerned about the so-called “clean feed”, it is heartening to see a group of concerned citizens doing their best to establish a legitimate vehicle to express those concerns, rather than just writing bitchy “f*ck the man” posts on blogs and news sites.
I’ll be signing up for sure, and encouraging other concerned musicians and friends to do the same. Our voices need to be heard, and a legit political party with a clear agenda seems like one of the best ways to make that happen.
Again, thanks for the informative article.
[...] an official press release recently that the Pirate Party of Australia is now accepting members, a scathing editorial was written in the Sydney Morning Herald. Such a response was expected, but this tone usually [...]