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Our name might seem silly at first, but you should remember everyone has been labelled a pirate at some point in the last few decades. Movie studios and recordi

Our name might seem silly at first, but you should remember everyone has been labelled a pirate at some point in the last few decades. Movie studios and recording companies place their propaganda in front of us at every chance they get, they waste your time with warnings on DVDs you’ve legitimately purchased or movies you watch at the cinema. They’ve told us over and over that home taping on to cassettes would kill the radio, that recording a TV show on to the VCR would bring an end to free-to-air TV, or sharing an MP3 music song with a friend will cause the end of musicians’ careers. The list goes on but here’s the important point: at every turn, at every change in technology, the rights-holders always say the same thing: ‘no, we don’t want you doing that’. These rights-holders donate to our major political parties, they’ve lobbied for and changed our laws to protect their profits and their outdated distribution monopolies. They’ve had their hand in writing trade agreements and international law, all in a failing attempt to control how you access your culture online. This is how the Pirate movement began; as a reaction to the corrupt corporate, political, and rent-seeking encroachment on a free and open internet, and our democracy.

hutzlibu 5y ago
"Our name might seem silly at first" The original pirates were and are murderers, rapist and thiefs. Despite some romantication going on - this is what they are doing. So I always thought it is not a smart idea, to adopt the name, that was meant as criticism.
- krapp 5y ago
  Most, romantic and heroic archetypes are murderers, rapists and thieves. Pirates, knights, samurai, cowboys are all romantic ideals and ugly realities. Heroes in antiquity like Hercules were portrayed little better - to be a hero was to be the most violent man in a violent world ruled by violent gods, and to this day modern heroes (including obviously superheroes) are almost always associated with aggression and violence. Americans often pride themselves on revolutionary ideals which spread chaos, pain and suffering throughout the world, to the point of looking down on countries stable enough not to have constant gun violence. We hold soldiers and police in far greater esteem than doctors and scholars. We write love letters to serial killers. We root for underdogs, villains and rebels by default. Let's be honest - it is a silly name, mostly because it seems childish and tone-deaf given more pressing modern political issues, but not because of any implied association with rape, pillage and plunder. If anything, that probably sells better in the US than elsewhere.
EpicEng 5y ago
So... you want to get into office based solely on media copyright issues and literally every other issue is "elect us and we'll figure it out!". Very hard to take seriously, good luck. And yes, your name is silly. You should change it; messaging matters and you start with your left foot forward.
- ryandrake 5y ago
  I think we need fewer package deals when it comes to politics. At least in the US, if you feel strongly about a single issue, you currently have to find the party that aligns with that view. But then when you vote for them, you also are voting for a great big basket of crazy that comes along for the ride, in the form of "that party's platform". I personally can't in good conscience vote for either of the Big-2 because of this baggage. It would be great to have candidate that just said "You know what, I'm going to for sure support this one particular issue, and abstain on the rest." I'd be up for that.
  - nopenopenopeno 5y ago
    There are a lot of legal and historical reasons for the two-party situation in the US. Nobody except the ruling class likes it, but the ruling class really really likes it. There have been a lot of efforts made to change it. This is one of multiple worst strategies I’ve ever seen.
    - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
      There is exactly one reason for the two-party situation in the US. First past the post voting system. It causes any third party with non-trivial support to merge into one of the major parties to avoid splitting the vote with whichever one is most similar to them. Switch to range voting, STAR voting, approval voting, and it goes away. The incumbent parties don't have a lot of incentive to do that because tautologically the people currently in office are the people the existing system puts in office, so why would they want a different one? But even a lot of politicians are pretty jaded about the existing system. Get a couple third parties in there who are willing to turn a 51 vote majority into a 49 vote minority over this and you might get it through.
nopenopenopeno 5y ago
Pretty much nobody really cares about these issues. I am aware of the history of Pirate parties in the Nordic countries but you are completely wasting your time with this in the US. You’d get a lot more attention by talking about free speech and social media regulation, but nothing like this will ever be anything but a hobby club.
- Radiojoe 5y ago
  Maybe, but it is something we all feel is important, and should have at least one group talking about it. For too long have these laws avoided any scrutiny in the public eye through obscurity, intentional or not.
  - nopenopenopeno 5y ago
    Fwiw, socialists have a derogatory term for prioritizing immaterial political agendas like yours. We call it “library socialism.” Some try to wear the label on their sleeve, thinking it’s cute. Socialists, however, recognize that your agenda can only be realized by confronting the capitalist mode of production, which only enforces copyright and intellectual property law to temporarily mitigate the tendency for the rate of profit to fall. In other words, it is a systemic component of capitalism beyond a certain stage of development, and it cannot simply be opted out of.
sometimeshuman 5y ago
As a gainfully employed adult, it is hard to personally justify piracy of entertainment media. Now if this discussion was about open access to science, medical, and technical papers, many of which were funded by tax payer dollars, then you'd have my donor dollars. Otherwise you are championing an issue that is doubtfully on anyone's top 100 problems list.
- danielrpa 5y ago
  I'm voter in the United States and this is on my top 100 problems list.
- BLKNSLVR 5y ago
  Just because, as a gainfully employed adult, you can now afford it, doesn't mean it's right; doesn't mean the system isn't in need of fixing. It just means you're now able to ignore the problem.
- Radiojoe 5y ago
  We often use popular mediums as a stepping stone to help discuss these more important pieces of media, make no mistake, open access to intellectual materials is our goal, alongside entertainment media, to a different degree.
- 4gotunameagain 5y ago
  One justification could be that the percentage of the profit which lands to the original creator is often peanuts. We have an _enormous_ industry enforcing copyright laws which barely make sense, and imo that industry is parasitic
- theplumber 5y ago
  What about DRM?
  - antifa 5y ago
    We can't stop here, we also need initiatives to promote open source.
vmception 5y ago
Have you considered running for office with one of the major parties? Its not very crowded in the house. You’ll have better luck there
_8j50 5y ago
Your link to check if there is a party in your state does not work, cuts off at new hampshire. Also, I agree with not being left/right wing but inability or unwillingness to commit to some belief or guiding principles that tells people how your policies might affect issues important to them is very bad. If I have an illegal immigrant family member, will you be hunting them down for deportation, after all they broke the law. Will you allow sharia law as an extension of people's right to practice their faith? will you reform immigration? If so, how? Will you end the visa lottery or amp it up? How about H1B and other skilled worker visas? I have colleagues that will have their entire lives impacted by that. Will you reform police and the military and if so how? Just funding? Will you, as a pirate actually restrict gun ownership, enact balanced reforms or leave things as is? I am not saying take a position on every issue now but I can't tell it apart from satire when you are not even hinting at what your principles are. Change for the sake if change is something juvenile people whose only goal is to self-aggrandize and give their own lives meaning at any cost. To me, you are actually a bit dangerous because you want to scoop up support fully knowing screaming change like Obama will help a lot. Do you have a sinister motive? No idea, all I know is people like this, college/young kids start small and actually revolt in many other countries, but in the end, either the military or some other power takes control. I like "piracy" and identify with what you are saying but idealism without principles and leadership is at best folly and at worst dangerous.
- Radiojoe 5y ago
  Hi, though we are centered on a few topics, within our discord we have a platform committee which is hammering this out over time, though as we are a coalition of diverse individuals, this has not been fast or easy, as we prefer a sizable majority in our party before passing a platform proposal, feel free to join to get a better idea of our ideas outside the core!
34679 5y ago
Don't forget scientific knowledge. https://sci-hub.se/ https://sci-hub.se/
- Radiojoe 5y ago
  I <3 Sci hub
pharmakom 5y ago
if their attempts are "failing" why a pirate party?
noduerme 5y ago
I think point 5 - standing for individual rights over corporate rights - should be point one.
zozbot234 5y ago
Their foremost goal should be to launch across-the-board primary challenges against all the congress-critters who have either endorsed or voted for IP-maximalist legislation in the past. This is how the Tea Party got its start, and now they rule the GOP. It works.

hutzlibu 5y ago

"Our name might seem silly at first" The original pirates were and are murderers, rapist and thiefs. Despite some romantication going on - this is what they are doing. So I always thought it is not a smart idea, to adopt the name, that was meant as criticism.

krapp 5y ago
Most, romantic and heroic archetypes are murderers, rapists and thieves. Pirates, knights, samurai, cowboys are all romantic ideals and ugly realities. Heroes in antiquity like Hercules were portrayed little better - to be a hero was to be the most violent man in a violent world ruled by violent gods, and to this day modern heroes (including obviously superheroes) are almost always associated with aggression and violence. Americans often pride themselves on revolutionary ideals which spread chaos, pain and suffering throughout the world, to the point of looking down on countries stable enough not to have constant gun violence. We hold soldiers and police in far greater esteem than doctors and scholars. We write love letters to serial killers. We root for underdogs, villains and rebels by default. Let's be honest - it is a silly name, mostly because it seems childish and tone-deaf given more pressing modern political issues, but not because of any implied association with rape, pillage and plunder. If anything, that probably sells better in the US than elsewhere.

EpicEng 5y ago

So... you want to get into office based solely on media copyright issues and literally every other issue is "elect us and we'll figure it out!". Very hard to take seriously, good luck. And yes, your name is silly. You should change it; messaging matters and you start with your left foot forward.

ryandrake 5y ago
I think we need fewer package deals when it comes to politics. At least in the US, if you feel strongly about a single issue, you currently have to find the party that aligns with that view. But then when you vote for them, you also are voting for a great big basket of crazy that comes along for the ride, in the form of "that party's platform". I personally can't in good conscience vote for either of the Big-2 because of this baggage. It would be great to have candidate that just said "You know what, I'm going to for sure support this one particular issue, and abstain on the rest." I'd be up for that.
- nopenopenopeno 5y ago
  There are a lot of legal and historical reasons for the two-party situation in the US. Nobody except the ruling class likes it, but the ruling class really really likes it. There have been a lot of efforts made to change it. This is one of multiple worst strategies I’ve ever seen.
  - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
    There is exactly one reason for the two-party situation in the US. First past the post voting system. It causes any third party with non-trivial support to merge into one of the major parties to avoid splitting the vote with whichever one is most similar to them. Switch to range voting, STAR voting, approval voting, and it goes away. The incumbent parties don't have a lot of incentive to do that because tautologically the people currently in office are the people the existing system puts in office, so why would they want a different one? But even a lot of politicians are pretty jaded about the existing system. Get a couple third parties in there who are willing to turn a 51 vote majority into a 49 vote minority over this and you might get it through.

nopenopenopeno 5y ago

Pretty much nobody really cares about these issues. I am aware of the history of Pirate parties in the Nordic countries but you are completely wasting your time with this in the US. You’d get a lot more attention by talking about free speech and social media regulation, but nothing like this will ever be anything but a hobby club.

Radiojoe 5y ago
Maybe, but it is something we all feel is important, and should have at least one group talking about it. For too long have these laws avoided any scrutiny in the public eye through obscurity, intentional or not.
- nopenopenopeno 5y ago
  Fwiw, socialists have a derogatory term for prioritizing immaterial political agendas like yours. We call it “library socialism.” Some try to wear the label on their sleeve, thinking it’s cute. Socialists, however, recognize that your agenda can only be realized by confronting the capitalist mode of production, which only enforces copyright and intellectual property law to temporarily mitigate the tendency for the rate of profit to fall. In other words, it is a systemic component of capitalism beyond a certain stage of development, and it cannot simply be opted out of.

sometimeshuman 5y ago

As a gainfully employed adult, it is hard to personally justify piracy of entertainment media. Now if this discussion was about open access to science, medical, and technical papers, many of which were funded by tax payer dollars, then you'd have my donor dollars. Otherwise you are championing an issue that is doubtfully on anyone's top 100 problems list.

danielrpa 5y ago
I'm voter in the United States and this is on my top 100 problems list.
BLKNSLVR 5y ago
Just because, as a gainfully employed adult, you can now afford it, doesn't mean it's right; doesn't mean the system isn't in need of fixing. It just means you're now able to ignore the problem.
Radiojoe 5y ago
We often use popular mediums as a stepping stone to help discuss these more important pieces of media, make no mistake, open access to intellectual materials is our goal, alongside entertainment media, to a different degree.
4gotunameagain 5y ago
One justification could be that the percentage of the profit which lands to the original creator is often peanuts. We have an _enormous_ industry enforcing copyright laws which barely make sense, and imo that industry is parasitic
theplumber 5y ago
What about DRM?
- antifa 5y ago
  We can't stop here, we also need initiatives to promote open source.

vmception 5y ago

Have you considered running for office with one of the major parties? Its not very crowded in the house. You’ll have better luck there

_8j50 5y ago

Your link to check if there is a party in your state does not work, cuts off at new hampshire. Also, I agree with not being left/right wing but inability or unwillingness to commit to some belief or guiding principles that tells people how your policies might affect issues important to them is very bad. If I have an illegal immigrant family member, will you be hunting them down for deportation, after all they broke the law. Will you allow sharia law as an extension of people's right to practice their faith? will you reform immigration? If so, how? Will you end the visa lottery or amp it up? How about H1B and other skilled worker visas? I have colleagues that will have their entire lives impacted by that. Will you reform police and the military and if so how? Just funding? Will you, as a pirate actually restrict gun ownership, enact balanced reforms or leave things as is? I am not saying take a position on every issue now but I can't tell it apart from satire when you are not even hinting at what your principles are. Change for the sake if change is something juvenile people whose only goal is to self-aggrandize and give their own lives meaning at any cost. To me, you are actually a bit dangerous because you want to scoop up support fully knowing screaming change like Obama will help a lot. Do you have a sinister motive? No idea, all I know is people like this, college/young kids start small and actually revolt in many other countries, but in the end, either the military or some other power takes control. I like "piracy" and identify with what you are saying but idealism without principles and leadership is at best folly and at worst dangerous.

Radiojoe 5y ago
Hi, though we are centered on a few topics, within our discord we have a platform committee which is hammering this out over time, though as we are a coalition of diverse individuals, this has not been fast or easy, as we prefer a sizable majority in our party before passing a platform proposal, feel free to join to get a better idea of our ideas outside the core!

34679 5y ago

Don't forget scientific knowledge. https://sci-hub.se/ https://sci-hub.se/

Radiojoe 5y ago
I <3 Sci hub

pharmakom 5y ago

if their attempts are "failing" why a pirate party?

noduerme 5y ago

I think point 5 - standing for individual rights over corporate rights - should be point one.

zozbot234 5y ago

Their foremost goal should be to launch across-the-board primary challenges against all the congress-critters who have either endorsed or voted for IP-maximalist legislation in the past. This is how the Tea Party got its start, and now they rule the GOP. It works.