General Election 2010 -- Clearing for Action

2010 March 30

Volunteers! Candidates need you

2010 March 24

Over the next few days I shall be attempting to get a handle of what is required of myself to best serve our candidates, whom I encourage to contact me with regards to what volunteer resources they think they require. Likewise, I will contact you and make sure that you are hopefully well furnished in the volunteer department.

10,000 people call for proper debate on the Digital Economy Bill

2010 March 23

The Digital Economy Bill has always been highly controversial. It threatens to take away the right to a fair trial, it threatens to kill off Wi-Fi hotspots, it threatens to introduce collective punishment and places ridiculous burdens on both ISPs and their customers. It is (if the rumours that amendment 120a came directly from the desk of Richard Mollet, Director of Public Affairs at the BPI are true) quite literally a law written by the record companies for the record companies.

Despite the public outcry, and the public protests organised for tomorrow, the government are planning to rush the bill through the House of Commons and into the lawbooks with no debate! Through a process known as 'wash up', the government can rush through new laws in in the final days before an election without a proper debate. This process is supposed to allow governments to make good on their manifesto commitments, but it is being misused to ram through a flawed, biased law that would fall apart under proper scrutiny.

The Pirate Party UK Launches its 2010 Election Manifesto

2010 March 22

After a huge amount of work by our policy groups, policy group leaders, our manifesto co-ordinator, by the web team who built voting software, and most of all by the members of the party who put forward the proposals and voted democratically on every point, I am very proud to announce that our 2010 general election manifesto is now ready.

At the end of this long process, we have produced a document that I think we can be proud of, and here it is:

The 2010 Election Manifesto of the Pirate Party UK

The Pirate Party is a new type of political party.
A party that talks about issues the other parties ignore.
A party free from corruption and expenses scandals, free from lobbyists and party whips.

Our manifesto covers 3 main areas: copyright and patent law; privacy law; and freedom of speech.

General Election 2010 -- Out on the Falling Tide

2010 March 18

Candidates 2010 - Last Call

2010 March 17

Panorama programme on disconnecting filesharers

2010 March 14

Tomorrow (Monday) Panorama will be covering the government's plans to disconnect the internet connections of alleged filesharers.

The True Effects of the Digital Economy Bill

2010 March 13

Yet more data has come to light supporting the Pirate Party's opposition of the Digital Economy Bill (DEB). Not only will it fail to reduce piracy, but it will drive pirates to even more sophisticated and harder-to-monitor technologies.

The most recent nail in the coffin of this misguided legislation has been supplied by UK ISP TalkTalk. A survey of their customers revealed that 80% of 18-34 year olds would simply seek out new - and as yet undetectable - ways to download, and felt that they would be more likely to commit online piracy if the Bill were to become law.

World Day Against Cyber Censorship

2010 March 11

Tomorrow (12th March) Reporters Without Borders will be celebrating World Day Against Cyber Censorship. While the UK is not on Reporters Without Borders' list of "Enemies of the Internet," we should not be complacent.

Internet censorship affects over 95% of UK Internet users with most of us unaware of it. Nearly all of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) filter all their web traffic using the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) blacklist without notification or consent. The IWF is a non-government, non-regulated body whose remit is to block access to sites allegedly containing child abuse images or racist material. Whilst this is a noble goal, it is far from a perfect system.

More recently, the Internet - which has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize - has come under threat in the UK from the Digital Economy Bill. While the the original Bill was heavily criticised for the excessive powers it gave the government and copyright owners, a recent amendment (drafted by the British Phonographic Industry and moved by the Liberal Democrats last week) takes this even further. According to several of the major Internet-based companies and ISPs, the powers it grants to copyright owners could "threaten freedom of speech and the open internet, without reducing copyright infringement as intended."

ACTA Supporters - UKIP named and shamed

2010 March 10

The internet without net neutrality

2010 March 10

Solihull school installs CCTV in children's toilets

2010 March 09

Dutch Pirates set sail

2010 March 09

Britain is not the only country holding a general election this summer. In the Netherlands, the general election will be held on 9th of June, and the newly-formed Dutch Pirate Party, Piratenpartij Nederland, is hoping to take part.

Election Campaign 2010 -- Putting to Sea

2010 March 08

As some of you will already be aware, on the 7th of March the NEC appointed me Deputy Campaigns Officer.  I'm going to be responsible for running the Pirate Party's campaign for the upcoming General Election, working closely with the Campaigns Officer, Philip Hunt, and the rest of the NEC.

I can't tell you exactly what our Grand Strategy is going to be -- I've had less than a day to work on it so far! -- but I will give you an overview of what we're doing at the moment and how you can help.

How to spot an extremist political party

2010 March 08

Lib Dems make the Digital Economy Bill even worse

2010 March 06

The UK's DMCA; Clause 17 falls, but at what cost?

2010 March 03