September 2010
21 posts
Taking up leadership of Pirate Party UK....
Thanks for your support and choosing me to contribute to our fight for a politics fit for the 21st century. So, I’m excited to accept the position as Leader of Pirate Party UK. I want to stand for a politics that puts our shared culture before censorship and industry lobbying. I want to stand for a movement that places liberty ahead of fear.
As I emphasised during the campaign, we have a...
If you didn't like the Digital Economy act, you'll... →
Take 5 minutes to help counter dangerous copyright enforcement in Europe calling Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg from Monday 20th (14-15:00) to Wednesday 22nd. Link to information about the report and tips for action.
'Twitter joke trial' on Guardian's comment is... →
Paul Chambers has written a dignified, but distressing account for Comment is Free. If you don’t know the background to this absurd case he sets it out. Basically, an off the cuff joke on twitter which went “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!”, ended with him being...
Internet Tax or ... BIS Govt response 'Online... →
This is the coalition’s response to the sorting out the bill for who finances the music industry’s hunt for ‘pirates’. It could have been worse, but 25% of the costs for sending out of ‘notifications’ will go to ISPs. So that’s your internet service provider, and business-wise they have no other option other to pass the costs on. This amounts to an...
US Forces-Afghanistan Private Security Contractor... →
Just for your information- a document which shows the creeping privatisation of war. As USFOR’s shouty capitals put it : THE RELIANCE ON CONTRACTED SERVICES TO INCLUDE AC’S/PSC’S IS LIKELY TO INCREASE .
Climbing Mount Improbable
As we go in to the voting round for the leadership of Pirate Party UK I want to just share a few general thoughts.
I am not going to kid you. The way ahead is not easy. We have a lot of building to do still as a party. I think I can inspire people to do that. I want to set us a goal of having any internal change done and dusted by the time we come to [un]conference in February. Then we will be...
Mobile operators blocking access to gay news and... →
Exclusive from Pink News
Discord at the opera...
Over the last few hours the usually genteel world of classical music and opera has become decidedly discordant.
A flood of protest has been unleashed by the Royal Opera House’s threats against classical music blogger Intermezzo. Intermezzo’s entire post can be seen here, explaining why all the blog’s posts about the ROH have been taken down. The heart of the matter is this:
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FYI
And for your information, the link to the EU trade commsission page about ACTA is here. Including the press releases about the rounds after they happened. Thanks for that.
Not acting on ACTA
Further to the previous posts on ACTA. I have received a response from Arlene McCarthy MEP ( Labour - sitting in the S&D group) about written declaration 12/2010. I say the response is about that, she doesn’t actually mention it.
She states that she has already signed European Parliament Resolution of 10 March 2010 on the transparency and state of play of the ACTA negotiations. Without...
Pirate Party UK Leadership debate in action... →
ACTA update
Since blogging yesterday there has been a flurry of pan-European lobbying. Citizens have been working to secure the final signatories necessary to get the European Parliament to adopt the ACTA-critical written declaration 12/2010. This was what I linked to as a possible course of action at the end of yesterday’s post.
Well merci / danke / tak & grazie because the required amount of...
Unison tells members how to vote in Labour Leader... →
ACTA : Knowing the Price of Everything and the...
The slow but inexorable process of the negotiation of ACTA: the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement creaks on. At this point you would be perfectly entitled to exclaim ‘The Anti what treaty? Never heard of it.’ This is because despite its potential to affect our way of life profoundly, it is being discussed behind closed doors at the insistence of the US, and the acquiescence of the...
Leaked ACTA text
A quick update-
The US has been successfully blocking the release of details about the ACTA negotiations. Knowledge Ecology International has obtained the August 25th text which you can have a look at here.
As they say, knock yourselves out.
4 tags
The Next Step for Pirate Party UK...
Pirate Party UK is barely a year old and already we have been through a General Election and been at the heart of the debate about contentious legislation such as the Digital Economy Act. Andy who has helped us through this phase as leader has decided to step down. After giving it much thought I have decided to put myself forward as leader for what I think is the first genuinely 21st century...
