Pirate Party comes to Canada

Robbo sez, "With the CRTC [ed: Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Canada, analogous to Ofcom or FCC] holding hearings on network management, the arrival of the Pirate Party movement in Canada can only be welcome news to those of us participating in the copyfight. While it's not likely they will have much clout within the halls of parliament, the conventional rules of *mis*representation don't apply when a party, political or cultural movement is driven by such a focused issue. It is enough to acheive the means by which it can be raised in debate - not just in parliament but also the media and the streets - so as to ensure public awareness of the actions of elected representatives and to subsequently steer them to the public's will and not be merely (and silently) beholden to the influence of corporate lobbies. Arrrrr, eh?"

Pirate Party of Canada

Free music, movies for all? Copyright-fighting Pirate Party comes to Canada. (Thanks, Robbo!)

[#1 posted by Peter J. Cat, July 6, 2009 11:55 PM]

ed, I think "Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Canada" would be an awesomely tautological name for a bureaucratic government department but are you sure it's exactly right?

Hey, I just checked and it stands for both "Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission" and "Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes" -- do all Canadian initialisms work in English and French?

[#2 posted by monstrinho_do_biscoito, July 7, 2009 1:30 AM]

@1 Canadian Department of Redundancy Department?

i hope someone starts a UK party. I'd do it, but i'm too lazy to even go to the shops to buy my CDs

[#3 posted by Daemon, July 7, 2009 1:45 AM]

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

[#4 posted by marco antonio, July 7, 2009 3:02 AM]

There is a newly started Pirate Party in Australia; at http://ppau.info/

Please check it out, spread the word, let people know!

[#5 posted by failix, July 7, 2009 3:57 AM]

The skull looks badass!

[#6 posted by Robbo, July 7, 2009 5:12 AM]

The logo rocks - and I think it would make a good beer label.

Pirate Party Beer. Hmmm. An effective and patriotic way to raise financing for the effort.

Cheers.

[#7 posted by Anonymous, July 7, 2009 8:37 AM]

*Sigh*

This looks more like an attempt to cash in via Merch, than a legitimate run at politics. Their political philosophy and strategy are largely absent, while their T-shirts and Hats are well designed and readily available.

Screw Pirates, we need the Michael Geist party of Canada.

[#8 posted by tkaraszewski, July 7, 2009 9:44 AM]

People who use stylized sails in graphics should make them look more like sails. They're supposed to be full of wind, not all limp and curled over at the bottom. They pull big heavy boats through the water, they should look powerful!

Sorry, pet peeve from a sailor.

[#9 posted by Anonymous, July 7, 2009 9:58 AM]

As much as I defend freedom of speech etc, I find it hard to take a Pirate Party seriously for the simple reason that parties have, at their foundation, some notion of an organized society based on productivity, whereas PPs seem to me based on theft pure and simple. It's a pyramid scheme masquerading as freedom fighting.

[#10 posted by Anonymous, July 7, 2009 11:13 AM]

They're here to fight the Arrrrrr Aye Eh Eh

:-D

[#11 posted by paul567, July 7, 2009 11:19 AM]

From the posted Canadian Press article (http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jWUvBM5C13QP1GPNoo8DchgsAufw)

"The party's goals are fairly simple. It says people should have the right to share and copy music, movies and virtually any material, as long as it is for personal use, not for profit."

I thought that the Pirate Party stood for fair use rather then outright stealing (regardless of intent to resell for profit or for home use).

Can someone please clarify this for me and provide a source?

[#12 posted by gregbaker, July 7, 2009 12:07 PM]

@11: The Swedish Piratpartiet's declaration of principles calls to abolish copyright for private and non-profit use: http://www.piratpartiet.se/documents/Principles%203.2.pdf

That seems to be the Canadian intention as well.

[#13 posted by cabalamat, July 7, 2009 2:56 PM]

@2: i hope someone starts a UK party

There already is a Pirate Party UK.

[#14 posted by kinetix, July 7, 2009 7:08 PM]

I'll be continuing to support my local NDP candidate. The NDP has a long history of championing fair use, privacy, and net neutrality issues, and they're already in parliament.

[#15 posted by Takuan, July 7, 2009 8:06 PM]

http://rhinoparty.com/

[#16 posted by Anonymous, July 19, 2009 8:56 PM]

KINETIX, they've fallen off track. They're more involved with credit cards. My MP is the NDP consumer protection whip, I know.

-Proud Pirate