Press release archive for November 2011

ECJ:

"It is true that the protection of the right to intellectual property is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. There is, however, nothing whatsoever in the wording of the Charter or in the Court's case-law to suggest that that right is inviolable and must for that reason be absolutely protected. [On the other hand], the filtering system would [..] be liable to infringe the fundamental rights of its customers, namely their right to protection of their personal data and their right to receive or impart information, which are rights safeguarded by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU"

Andrew Robinson:
"The Scarlet verdict is to be welcomed, but shows that laws designed to deal with tape cassettes and photocopiers are now being stretched to the point of absurdity. The sooner we make new laws that are fit to purpose, the sooner we'll all ...

Since 17th September this year the Occupy Wall Street camp has been peacefully protesting and has given birth to a worldwide movement. At 1am local time (6am GMT) an operation began to clear the camp, with Health and Safety grounds being given as the reason. In shocking scenes as the world watched, police wearing helmets and carrying shields moved into the camp; tents and structures were torn down, the books of the library tossed in a skip and protesters arrested. Pirate Party UK condemns this unnecessary move and supports the right to protest.

"William Hague is either ignorant of his own government's policy or he is a hypocrite. In the week where web blocking has hit the UK he is no position to lecture other countries on Internet freedom."

The High Court in London has today upheld an earlier ruling that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden. The extradition is being requested on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued for Mr. Assange. It is outrageous that the UK is acting within a system where a citizen of one country could be handed to another on the basis of mere allegations.

That no main party has even dared to comment on the case shows how scared the British establishment is of scrutiny and dissent. The reaction of the US government has been to call for Mr Assange to be hunted down and killed, and pressuring financial organisations to choke off WikiLeak's funding.

I continue to offer my full support, and the Pirate Party's full support, to Wikileaks and any other organisation that brings light to the darkness.