Press release archive for December 2012

BPI Legal action

The proxy server the Pirate Party UK initially provided in solidarity with other parties in Europe, but later as an anti-censorship resource for UK users, has now been been removed. Loz Kaye made the following statement:

Elected members of the party's National Executive Committee, along with the head of IT, received letters from lawyers acting for British Phonographic Industry (BPI), threatening them personally with High Court legal action.

The Pirate Party UK can confirm that 6 members of the party have received letters from a solicitors firm acting on behalf of the BPI threatening legal action. Leader Loz Kaye has been singled out, along with the 4 other members of the National Executive and the party's head of IT.

Pirate Party Leader Loz Kaye said:

"We had been anticipating legal action ever since I received an email from Geoff Taylor of the BPI. What has taken me aback is that this threat is personally directed. I simply can not see what the music industry think can be positively gained by threatening to bankrupt me and other party officers. Throughout, the party and I have been open to dialogue. Contrary to reports I offered to meet Geoff Taylor for discussion, but this has been rebuffed, at this point we are talking our legal advisers and will respond to ...

Imagine a world in which your every journey was logged by time and place, where the newsagents kept records for the government of what papers you bought, where the library logged what books you read, where the pub landlord made a note of who came in, who spoke to whom, and the topics of each conversation.

This legislation isn't just intrusive and creepy - it has some very real impacts on freedom of association, on the right to privacy of your political opinions and movements, on the very foundations of our democracy. If the government knows exactly what you read and when, you may as well throw out the secret ballot!

Loz Kaye commented on reports that ISPs have been told that they no longer have to block The Promo Bay (a promotion tool for artists). This was following pressure put on music industry body the BPI.:

"The lifting of the Promo Bay block vindicates everything the Pirate Party has said on site blocking all along."

There ought to be no question of the BPI, or any other organisation, getting to decide what should be seen on the net and what should not. The Promo Bay fiasco clearly shows that the music industry cannot be trusted with censorship powers. There can now be no question of any other blocks on sites or proxies. It is time to resolve the whole issue of web blocking."

Loz Kaye made the following statement regarding Promo Bay:

"The conflicting reports around access to Promo Bay in the UK show how vital it is to have transparency about court decisions and how they are carried out. It also shows how volatile public opinion is about the issue of web censorship. Politicians and companies need to start to understand that."