Mark Sims

From Pirate Party UK Wiki

Pirate Party UK Candidate
Mark Sims
Age	37
Constituency	East Ham
Region	Greater London
Occupation	Teacher
Twitter	@MarkPPUK

I went to university in the 90's, primarily because I wanted to spend a year abroad, and needed a degree to achieve that aim. Studying IT (Humanities) & Business Law, I began to become interested in civil liberties issues ('dataveillance' being a term that cropped up in relation to the increasing use of IT tools such as CCTV and databases to monitor society). Whilst not particularly concerned with political issues, as students are often seen to be, the issues raised in lectures & seminars began to raise questions in me.

Studying IT from a Humanities point of view, I was also exposed to a lot of literature from the then-modern cyberpunk viewpoint; dystopian views of dataveillance society gone to the extreme. authors such as Gibson ('Neuromancer'), Stephenson ('Snow Crash') & Dick ('Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', inspiration for the films 'Blade Runner' & 'Total Recall') were required reading, along with more academic readings of IT & Society which all helped to open my mind to the possible issues of government-controlled IT.

Following the completion of my degree, I worked in Japan for a year, as an assistant language teacher. This gave me a taste for teaching, and shortly after I returned to the UK I commenced a post graduate teacher-training programme (PGCE) specialising in ICT. I have spent the past 8 years teaching ICT, and find myself enjoying the opportunity to use my degree to highlight issues that concern my students.

Having an academic background in law & being involved in the delivery of ICT in schools has made me more aware of legal issues in IT; much of the curriculum touches on typical legal issues such as disability and health & safety, but copyright is the one area that really made me think. Having to explain to a class of 14-16 year students why it is illegal to simply download files when they are freely available via google is no easy task! A task made no easier when few owners bother to respond to students' requests that they be allowed to use material for their studies.

Whilst teaching, I have endeavoured to keep in touch with 'real-world' IT issues, and have become increasingly concerned with the way that Government has continually failed to grasp how IT really works. Blunders such as the child credit system and the continually delayed NHS system concerned me, and then the Digital Economy Bill came along. Knowing that many of my students will be using the internet to download music and movies (most wouldn't even try to deny it to me!) I am aware that many could fall foul of the proposals to disconnect them; knowing that their families rely on the internet (as do I) to conduct their daily lives, I am strongly aware of how dangerous this Bill could be.

Given that the Government plans to push this Bill through before the General Election using 'wash-up' to avoid proper scrutiny and debate is of most concern, however. It is actions like these that have forced me to stand as a Pirate against the incumbent MP for my constituency, Stephen Timms. Mr Timms holds the position of Minister for Digital Britain, and will, like a true politician, quote soundbites extolling the Bill, but when questioned about the Bill, simply refers back to the 'blurb' and does not address the concerns put to him.

This is why I intend to stand against him in the upcoming election; to hold my MP accountable for his words, and provide fellow East Ham residents with an alternative to the mainstream parties.