Introduce Yourself

[justfin]

Hi

I'm Fin, from York, 29, Have a full time logistical kinda job but in my free time i create WP7 apps and Xbox Indie games.

The main reason i have joined this site is to try and contribute and help promote the idea of sharing!

As a developer i run on 2 simple principles, everything i do is free, its is complete and fully funded through non intrusive ad support.

Everything i produce is Open Source and free for others to tweak or improve.

A non advertised version of everything i do is available for a minimal fee (79p) or by using the pay what you like button!

I see the pirate party as, for now at least, a one issue party, able to drum up enough noise as to make the main parties think twice. (hopefully in time it can become more than that!)

My top 5 wishes are:

1. Copyright shrunk to 6 months (with the ability to extend it to 6 years subject to registration)
2. The unblocking of the PirateBay!
3. Non commercial copying and modification of copyrighted works to be expressly stated as a lawful.
4. Introduction of fair use legislation
5. Further regulation of the music industries with regards to returns to artists

[topperfalkon]

Hi Fin, it's good to have you with us. It's worth noting that we're on the way to developing a far broader spectrum of policies. We hope to unveil them at the PPUK conference in September, but we'll accept help along the way.

As for your 5 points:

1. We seek copyright reform, but in reality any eventual restriction will be based on consultation with affected parties. I believe our current policy aims for 5 years, which seems realistically achievable in my mind.
2. That's a given in my opinion. I'd also like to see further protection against anti-competitive injunctions being raised in courts, wasting the public's time.
3. We'd like to see that, although that's again dependent on 1.
4. We'd also like to see that.
5. I'd personally love to see that. I'd rather see collecting societies broken up and replaced with a dispute settlement service of some case if artists don't feel they've been compensated properly for performing live.

[JaseHargreaves]

Hi, I'm Jason 37 year old from Rickmansworth.

The reason I have joined this site and become a member of The Pirate Party UK is the concern I share regarding the censorship of free speech but not just on the Internet.

Like Fin, The Pirate Party seems to be a one issue party and I'd like to see it become more. For now though, in the absence of any other party who focus mostly on either unacheivable or unimportant polices, you have my support.

[azrael]

Hi, it is great to see so many new faces.

I'd like to challenge the comments that call us a single issue party. To some extent that seems the case, but I hope that you'll agree with me that when you dig a little deeper there is more to us. I don't just mean the Policy 2011 consultation on reddit, nor the policy 2012 process that came from it. Nor am I being a little trite and referring to our three core policies of copyrights/patents, surveillance, and free speech.

Instead I refer to the general Pirate philosophy which can be a lens through which to view any policy area (Rick has made efforts to define his take on this as his pirate wheel). In the same way that one might summarise in few words what a liberal, a socialist, or a conservative stands for, likewise you should be able to boil down a Pirate to our few core policies. But that simple definition helps inform a perspective on a much wider policy platform.

Yes we need manifestos covering a wider range of issues when we stand for election. We have created such manifestos in the past, and will do so in the future. But when trying to get our message across to those who haven't heard of us, the most important thing we need to do is explain our philosophy as simply as we can. Barring personalities and fluctuating popularity ratings many voters label themselves and vote accordingly, e.g. a 'socialist' constituent is likely to vote for a socialist party. They (I generalise) aren't always delving into manifestos and looking at the small print. They are looking for someone who advertises their party as socialist and expect to get someone who will (e.g.) tax the rich and build a welfare state.

So I say that we don't need a complicated in-depth manifesto to catch the interest of the voters (though I accept that we may need that to hold on to them after we've caught them). Instead we need to have such a simple message that voters redefine themselves. Someone labelling themselves a liberal might look at our strong stand-point on individual rights and reducing surveillance and re-label themselves a Pirate. Someone labelling themselves a conservative may look on our copyright/patent stance and see a low-interventionist free-market approach and be all for it, re-labelling themselves as a Pirate. Someone labelling themselves a socialist might look on our copyright agenda as a redistribution of wealth from the few rich copyright companies to the many poor artists and decide to re-label themselves Pirate.

We need to make it easy for a vast swathe of the electorate to be able to identify themselves as agreeing with core Pirate beliefs, and being ready to politically label themselves as Pirate. That doesn't come from having more policies. It comes from better explaining the core of what we stand for.

[korvalis]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Sam Clark, 19, I am currently studying Electronic Engineering at Sheffield Hallam. I also run an IT/general technology consultancy and applications design business ( Creative Resolution Networks), that I have setup from scratch, in Sheffield. I am always happy to volunteer my services for the good of the party!

I'm currently living in Sheffield.

I feel that current politics aren't keeping up with the current state of technology, and I think now is the best time for us to stand up!

Greeting from a fellow Sheffield based pirate, as tempest has already said we're looking to increase our efforts in the Steel City. So we'll probably be meeting up sooner or later.

[NickB]

Hi, I'm not a member of the Pirate Party, but I'm interested in a lot of the issues you guys discuss and would like to take part in some discussions. I hope I've gone about this the right way, apologies if I've done anything wrong.

I'm Nick, I'm 39 and I'm actually a Liberal Democrat councillor in Colchester. I think there's a lot of overlap between our two parties, especially in the area of civil liberties and opening up democracy - I've been particularly interested recently in reading about the German Pirates and their use of Liquid Feedback for internal discussions, and I'm wondering how tools like that could be used to enhance local democracy.

I'm not here to be partisan, or to try and persuade you all to join the Liberal Democrats, and I'm not here in any official capacity from the party. I do think politics should feature more openness and discussion between different parties, and I'm here in that spirit of openness, so hopefully we can learn from each other and everyone will benefit down the line.

Hopefully we can have some interesting discussions!

[followsound]

Hi, sounds good I'll keep an eye out!

Hi Sam,

I'll poke our campaigns officer in your direction soon as he's in your area We're currently increasing our activity in Sheffield, so I'd hope there would be plenty for you to get involved in!

[topperfalkon]

Hi Nick,

The way I've always seen things during my tenure with the Party is that it's the end result that's important, not necessarily who's doing it. Part of the reasons the Pirate Party exists isn't just to contest elections but to put our core policies on the mainstream agenda (for the right reasons). Whilst I am speaking for myself in this respect, I'd openly accept any suggestions anyone wishes to give us. We're continually growing and we're currently working on updating our policies, which should happen by the end of this year. I think it's only natural that part of that process is considering how we better communicate with our supporters and the general public. If that information helps better the mainstream parties too, then that's a greater victory for democracy.

So in short, yes you're welcome to come talk to us on our forums and share ideas! Obviously you won't get access to forum areas designated for Party members only, but that's the price you pay for being a LibDem instead of a Pirate

[azrael]

Of course you could always become a member, Nick, and get access to the other forums

I don't know if the LibDems prevent you joining other parties...

[cabalamat]

I'm Nick, I'm 39 and I'm actually a Liberal Democrat councillor in Colchester. I think there's a lot of overlap between our two parties, especially in the area of civil liberties and opening up democracy - I've been particularly interested recently in reading about the German Pirates and their use of Liquid Feedback for internal discussions, and I'm wondering how tools like that could be used to enhance local democracy.

Hi Nick,

I'm also a fan of liquid democracy. I recently stood for election in Edinburgh on a platform that included it. In general, I'm very much in favour of reforming how politics is done in the UK.

[followsound]

I'm more than happy to accommodate meetings, etc. It would be great to see some faces!

Hi Everyone,

I'm Sam Clark, 19, I am currently studying Electronic Engineering at Sheffield Hallam. I also run an IT/general technology consultancy and applications design business ( Creative Resolution Networks), that I have setup from scratch, in Sheffield. I am always happy to volunteer my services for the good of the party!

I'm currently living in Sheffield.

I feel that current politics aren't keeping up with the current state of technology, and I think now is the best time for us to stand up!

Greeting from a fellow Sheffield based pirate, as tempest has already said we're looking to increase our efforts in the Steel City. So we'll probably be meeting up sooner or later.

[richhaddon]

as i've been lurking a bit here since june 2011, thought it was about time i introduce myself.

Hi, I'm Richard, i'm 16 ( bit young i know , but i'm interested in PPUK ). i'm from camberley in surrey and i'm about to start A levels in Maths ( already started ) physics, computing and electronics. I can't help the party much but i try to help out on the PPUK wiki and pirate party articles on wikipedia.

[NickB]

Of course you could always become a member, Nick, and get access to the other forums

I don't know if the LibDems prevent you joining other parties...

I honestly don't know what the position is on that!

It's something I've been thinking about, and I have been planning a blog post on ideas around how Britain could adopt some electoral fusion ideas to improve the electoral system.

Thanks for the welcome, anyway.

[jamestilburn]

Hi, I'm James, 34 from Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

I've just joined the party and am happy to help in anyway I can to develop an alternative to the big three parties that doesn't involve either the overthrow of the bourgeoisie or a return to victorian England.

People often say that voting for a small party is a wasted vote but unless you vote for someone who is likely to win rather than someone you believe in, you may as well not have bothered.

I spend too much time reading about things I disagree with and complaining instead of doing actively something about it. Joining the party is hopefully the first step to changing that. I'd like to get involved in the party on a local level (i.e. Harrogate, York, Leeds etc.) to help create a local presence and eventually get some Pirate Party counsellors, MPs and Euro MPs to represent me instead of the usual Tories and Lib Dems.

[tuoni]

Of course you could always become a member, Nick, and get access to the other forums

I don't know if the LibDems prevent you joining other parties...

I honestly don't know what the position is on that!

AFAIK, the only two parties who stop you are Labour and the Greens.

Edit:
To address Az's last bit, if there are any areas of the forums which cannot be commented on by non-members, please let someone from the IT team know... I (when I did it) opened up the whole forums for non-"member" posting, but I know there were some wrinkles in permissions. There shouldn't be a forum a registered user can't post in now. Certainly not intentionally

[tuoni]

I would also like to give a (belated and general, I know...) welcome to all of our new members.

*ahem*

Welcome

[ccerr39783]

Thank you.. Some good reading on the site.

[liamreed]

as i've been lurking a bit here since june 2011, thought it was about time i introduce myself.

Hi, I'm Richard, i'm 16 ( bit young i know , but i'm interested in PPUK ). i'm from camberley in surrey and i'm about to start A levels in Maths ( already started ) physics, computing and electronics. I can't help the party much but i try to help out on the PPUK wiki and pirate party articles on wikipedia.

I joined when i was sixteen too so there is nothing wrong with that have you got yourself on the electoral register since your legal to do so now? and you can help us by giving us your views and spreading the word!

[Pedgeth]

Hi everyone. My name is Pete
30 years old, from Middlesborugh, about to start an OU course in computer programming

[tuoni]

Hi everyone. My name is Pete
30 years old, from Middlesborugh, about to start an OU course in computer programming

Hi Pete!

Welcome to PPUK