Talk:Manifesto
From Pirate Party UK Wiki
" When copyrights were originally created, they only regulated the right of a creator to be recognised as the creator. "
Not true; you are referring to droit moral d'auteur.
Captcha: "art's outraged" - how appropriate!
As the party stands for free speech, I would add a policy to support the basic human rights that have been slowly eroded in the UK of the right to free assembly and the right to free speech. It is currently illegal to protest within 1km of Parliament Square in London without permission, along with many other areas across the UK.
It is also now legal for police to stop and search anyone without reasonable suspicion, under the Terrorism Act 2000. This has allowed police to stop and detain protestors for no reason at all, as no evidence of reasonable suspicion needs to be given.
The Pirate Party should stand for free protest and free assembly in addition to its other policies.
Adam Leake (adam.leake@hotmail.co.uk)
Contents |
[edit] Manifesto support for voting systems and compulsory voting
I am not a member, but am supportive of the basic concepts. However, some of the ideas in the manifesto which are about policy issues other than copyright seem as though they are instinctive, rather than thought through.
For example, compulsory voting. This will inevitably lead to people being imprisoned for not voting. There will be many people who publicly refuse to vote, and subsequently refuse to accept any punishment, forcing the judiciary to sentence them to a term of imprisonment, if not for the original offence, then for non-payment of fines etc.
Support for compulsory voting is a manifestation of the authorotarian attitude you seem elsewhere to be against.
The support for a list system for elections places the power in the hands of the party machine. I realise that this is not a practical issue for the party at this stage of it's development, but it is an indication of the way the party leadership thinks. It looks like you want a centralised party, with control in the hands of a small cabal.
I think the section on electoral reform, as it stands today, is too specific for an area outside the PP's core policy area. Given that the PP would almost certainly have to work with other parties to achieve these changes, I think that rather than making a specific choice of a new system to support (be it open lists, STV, Additional Member or something else), I think that, if it is decided that it is appropriate to have a policy on this subject, a simple statement along the following lines would be more appropriate:
"PPUK believes that the First-Past-the-Post system fails to adequately empower the electorate and would wish to see it replaced by a more proportional and representative system."
[edit] Copyright
We dispute claims that copyright is a necessary basis for cultural development. We point to the works of composers like Handel and Mendelssohn; to writers like Dickens and Shakespeare; and to the rise of free software as evidence that copyright is not a necessary foundation for artistic and commercial advancement in any age.
We are going to run into trouble with this. The GPL is based on Copyright Law.
We are suspicious of use of the phrase "intellectual property" to refer to copyright, patents and trademark as these things are legal constructs and not otherwise scarce.
Could we change this so it mentions that copyright, patents and trademarks are distinct things in Law and lumping them under one term is legally confusing.
[edit] Stance on Current legislation
Immaterial laws are a way to legislate material properties for immaterial values.
What does this mean?
[edit] Closing words section
Suggest improvements to the English, without changing the sense, as follows:
We wish to guard citizens' basic human rights, including privacy rights. The government now routinely puts its citizens under surveillance, and this invariably leads to abuses of power, to curtailment of freedoms and to injustice. We demand a correction to this situation. We demand justice, freedom and democracy for everyone.
Today's copyright and patent laws lead to harmful monopolies and the loss of important democratic values. These laws hinder the development of culture, the generation of knowledge, and the dissemination of knowledge to the poeple. We demand the abolition of patents and the introduction of fair and balanced laws of copyrights, rooted in the will of the people, to enrich people's lives, enable a healthy business climate, create a knowledge and cultural commons, and thereby enhance the development of society as a whole.
Our work with this is now focused on parliamentary means and therefore we seek a mandate from the people to represent them over these issues.
We stand united around our protection of the right to privacy, our will to reform copyrights, and the need to abolish patents. 147.114.226.180 12:48, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Source is dead
The forum discussion link is dead to me, is that correct? - Borgs8472
- Not dead for me, but it is in the members-only section. Perhaps you are not logged in as a member on the forum? --Jez9999 11:17, 29 November 2009 (UTC)