Monday, June 8th 2009

Pirate Party Elected to EU Parliament

The Pirate Party silenced skeptics, gathering enough votes in the European Union elections this year, to make it to the Parliament from Sweden. This serves as a huge victory to the party whose ideology revolves around fighting harsh and archaic copyright laws and enforcement agencies, that it finds incompatible with the digital age we live in. The party secured 7.1 percent of the 99.9 percent districts' votes counted, which guarantees at least one of the 18 or 20 seats Sweden contributes to the EU Parliament. Sweden has 20 seats, but until the Lisbon treaty passes only 18 with voting rights. In this case, the party might secure 2 seats.

Rick Falkvinge, leader of the party, in a statement to TorrentFreak said "Together, we have today changed the landscape of European politics. No matter how this night ends, we have changed it." National and International press gathered in Stockholm, where the party celebrates its landmark victory. "This feels wonderful. The citizens have understood it's time to make a difference. The older politicians have taken apart young peoples' lifestyle, bit by bit. We do not accept that the authorities' mass-surveillance," Falkvinge added.
The voter turnout for the elections was 43 percent. Nearly 200,000 people voted for The Pirate Party, way up from its performance in the 2006 Swedish national elections, where it secured 34,918 votes. With their presence in the EU Parliament, the party wants to fight the abuses of power and copyright laws at the hands of the entertainment industries, and make those activities illegal instead. On the other hand they hope to legalize file-sharing for personal (non-commercial) use.
Source: TorrentFreak
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268 Comments on Pirate Party Elected to EU Parliament

#226
mdm-adph
El FiendoThe radio should be banned. I can pirate songs with my mind! Recording parts of them in there. Why weren't casettes banned as pirate material back in the day? There's really only one thing that could be recorded on them, as opposed to CDs which have several non musical applications. So because something is easier now its all of a sudden illegal?


Mailman: There's also being a dick. He just didn't list it. :p
Oh, they tried to ban VHS tapes when they first came out. See Sony v. Universal, 1984. "They" lost.

Oddly enough, if you "record" that song with your mind, and then "play it back" by singing it out loud, you actually are breaking US laws regarding unlicensed performances. :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#227
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
El FiendoThe radio should be banned. I can pirate songs with my mind! Recording parts of them in there. Why weren't casettes banned as pirate material back in the day? There's really only one thing that could be recorded on them, as opposed to CDs which have several non musical applications. So because something is easier now its all of a sudden illegal?
You did have data cassettes. Commodore used to have a cassette drive. Applications used to come in cassettes. Loading times were a bitch.
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#228
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
TheMailMan78If there is no right or wrong then how come I have so many infractions?
Infractions are the consequence of going against the powers that be. Being promoted to moderator is the consequence of going with the powers that be. If the "powers that be" are altered, what is perceived to be right and wrong may go with it. The consequence alone determines what is "right" and what is "wrong." When there are no consequences, the concept of right and wrong ceases to exist.



Cassettes are still the norm for backing up data on the enterprise level. Think of all the copyright infringments Walmart and Amazon commit when they backup their databases or copy it to a mirror server. :|
Posted on Reply
#229
El Fiendo
mdm-adphOh, they tried to ban VHS tapes when they first came out. See Sony v. Universal, 1984. "They" lost.

Oddly enough, if you "record" that song with your mind, and then "play it back" by singing it out loud, you actually are breaking US laws regarding unlicensed performances. :laugh:
I was thinking tape deck not VHS. As for the unlicensed song thing that's awesome.
btarunrYou did have data cassettes. Commodore used to have a cassette drive. Applications used to come in cassettes. Loading times were a bitch.
Yes, I recall as my parents used them and I frequently saw them around the house. Though weren't these a different size than the standard cassette?
Posted on Reply
#230
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
El FiendoYes, I recall as my parents used them and I frequently saw them around the house. Though weren't these a different size than the standard cassette?
Standard compact cassettes. What's more, the Dutch had mastered a technique of "broadcasting" computer software over radio. People could tune in, and record the radio channel from a set time to another set time on cassettes using ordinary tape recorders, and straightaway use it on computers.
Posted on Reply
#231
TheMailMan78
Big Member
FordGT90ConceptInfractions are the consequence of going against the powers that be. Being promoted to moderator is the consequence of going with the powers that be. If the "powers that be" are altered, what is perceived to be right and wrong may go with it. The consequence alone determines what is "right" and what is "wrong." When there are no consequences, the concept of right and wrong ceases to exist.
WOW! Thats the biggest over analysis of a joke I have ever seen.
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#233
El Fiendo
btarunrStandard compact cassettes. What's more, the Dutch had mastered a technique of "broadcasting" computer software over radio. People could tune in, and record the radio channel from a set time to another set time on cassettes using ordinary tape recorders, and straightaway use it on computers.
Ah. Well I stand corrected. I seemed to remember them bigger for some reason. As for the Dutch, its been known for a long time they are crazy. This just further proves it.
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#234
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
El FiendoAh. Well I stand corrected. I seemed to remember them bigger for some reason. As for the Dutch, its been known for a long time they are crazy. This just further proves it.
Don't you realise now that they were one of the first with "wireless networking" :) ?
Posted on Reply
#235
El_Mayo
Musselsthats my way of seeing things. Sure, SOME ways of life wont work. Sitting on your ass letting your last good song pour in the millions, for example. But you can still make a lot of money even if no one buys the album - radio stations will pay to play it, TV music channels will pay for the video clips. And then theres all the live performances - people can pirate your songs, but they cant copy you so do things that focus on you, not the music.
Logic +1 ::toast:
Posted on Reply
#236
caleb
Nice to see these guys got into EU.
I dont care if they are right or wrong. Its the diffrence of perspective that helps the overall result over there.
Still I get the feeling its gonna be like Poland with germans having their 2 seats as the local minority just so we get a break from "bla bla bla we wanna have a vote too".

On the mailman hand. The old nice CD in Virgin store system is dead.
Internet gives us such freedom nobody should ever gain any control of its content.
I really dont get it why wont artist make good use of internet and finally kick out money leeching producers from buisness. Just sell your stuff over internet for 25% of the retail shop price and everybody will be happy. Im pretty sure that on the long run you will get more from this when ppl will totally depend on getting digital entertainment from inet.

Its the same when computers came with robotics and suddenly everybody noticed ppl will loose their jobs. "Oh noez us cheap bastards will loose our jobs because of this hardware. We should stop this now !" .
Nobody will adjust the ways of evolution for some smaller group. If its bad for some but its good for everyone that will be the way..
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#237
DaveK
I've just skimmed through this thread, but who ever thought of paying the original price instead of a large fine is genius, that's a fucking brilliant idea. If I pirate a €20 DVD and get caught I should have to pay €20, not €250,000 and upto 5 years in prison which is what it currently is in Ireland.

I pirate a €20 movie so they would want me to pay €250,000...why? It's not like they would have got QUARTER OF A FUCKING MILLION euro from me buying 1 DVD. Funnily enough, most people I know have pirated, it's everyday stuff if for most people, doesn't matter if it's "just a few songs" or a fucking Blu-ray movie it's still piracy, but pretty much everyone I know has done it because it's so easy, everyone else does it and no one gets caught. How many people have I read in the paper getting caught with piracy, fined and jailed? None. Lotta rape, murder and drugs going on though.

Piracy is harmless, why should someone have to pay €250k and be looking at 5 years in a prison, 5 years in fucking prison over a movie? It's a joke. If they nailed us all most of Ireland would be in jail.

"You pirated a most likely shitty movie? YOU MONSTER! We're going to fine you something you can't afford and put you in a cell with a man who killed someone to death, raped women and children and sells hard drugs!"

You're not allowed copy movies to your hard-drive since it's illegal to break the security, yet no one cares. You're not supposed to show movies in schools/hospitals and so on, yet they still do it and no one cares. So why should anyone care if a person pirates a movie? Fair enough if they're stingy bastards and wont pay, but I have good intentions, and so do a lot of people.
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#238
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
DaveKput you in a cell with a man who killed someone to death
thats how serious piracy is. not only did he kill someone, he killed them so hard they DIED.



The reason for the fine is a deterrent - why would anyone pay, if there was no punishment to steal?
for a $20 DVD, the fine should be $100. deterrent, but SANE.
Posted on Reply
#239
DaveK
Musselsthats how serious piracy is. not only did he kill someone, he killed them so hard they DIED.



The reason for the fine is a deterrent - why would anyone pay, if there was no punishment to steal?
for a $20 DVD, the fine should be $100. deterrent, but SANE.
I guess that makes sense, if it's a $20 fine they will probably do it again, $100 is reasonable, not something stupid like 250k which most people probably can't afford, hence why they probably pirated a movie in the first place lol.
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#240
Triprift
Musselsthats how serious piracy is. not only did he kill someone, he killed them so hard they DIED.



The reason for the fine is a deterrent - why would anyone pay, if there was no punishment to steal?
for a $20 DVD, the fine should be $100. deterrent, but SANE.
Your right a 20 buck fine would be bugga all deterent but 200,000 and thats a whole different ball game. Course it dont stop ppl and even if you do get slugged its not like most of us would have that money in our wallets.
Posted on Reply
#241
mdm-adph
DaveKYou're not allowed copy movies to your hard-drive since it's illegal to break the security, yet no one cares. You're not supposed to show movies in schools/hospitals and so on, yet they still do it and no one cares. So why should anyone care if a person pirates a movie? Fair enough if they're stingy bastards and wont pay, but I have good intentions, and so do a lot of people.
1) I'm pretty sure the law barring the backing up of your own movies onto your hard drive is only present in the US, but I could be wrong. (Has the EU passed their DMCA-like law yet?)

2) In the US, showing movies in schools/hospitals is legally permitted under the "Fair Use" exemption to copyright.

Disclaimer: IANAL, YMMV
Posted on Reply
#242
TheMailMan78
Big Member
Musselsthats how serious piracy is. not only did he kill someone, he killed them so hard they DIED.
I lol'd on that one. It reminded me of a Family Guy were Peter was drunk and said "I took off my pants off."
Posted on Reply
#243
mdm-adph
El FiendoAh. Well I stand corrected. I seemed to remember them bigger for some reason. As for the Dutch, its been known for a long time they are crazy. This just further proves it.
All I know about the Dutch is that you should never, ever, say their language sounds like German.

Even if it does.
Posted on Reply
#244
TheMailMan78
Big Member
mdm-adphAll I know about the Dutch is that you should never, ever, say their language sounds like German.

Even if it does.
I thought the Germans were Dutch that didn't have the funky fresh wooden shoes.
Posted on Reply
#245
mdm-adph
TheMailMan78I thought the Germans were Dutch that didn't have the funky fresh wooden shoes.
I'll have you know that those shoes are actually far more stylish and comfortable than the Dutch let on. It's a national secret.

Oh yeah -- also, never, ever refer to the Netherlands as "Holland," even if that's what everyone else calls it.
Posted on Reply
#246
TheMailMan78
Big Member
mdm-adphOh yeah -- also, never, ever refer to the Netherlands as "Holland," even if that's what everyone else calls it.
I thought the Netherlands was the place between your privates and your anus. Man you guys are confusing me.
Posted on Reply
#247
pantherx12
TheMailMan78You guys have no idea how much this pisses me off as an artist. There is no argument for this.
You would get money other ways ...

Music and art would be distrubuted freely but websites would have a fuck load of ads and people would make some money.
Posted on Reply
#248
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
pantherx12You would get money other ways ...
Yeah, like this:

Posted on Reply
#250
Steevo
FordGT90Concept@Steevo: There is no right or wrong, only consequences.
Consequences are caused by a action or reaction and thus weighed and determined against the moral fiber of another to be right or wrong. Thus right and wrong exist, but are totally subjective.



If I post a nude woman in this thread, I will probably get a infraction, and thus it would have been determined that I did wrong. If the mod etc... were to like the image and add that to their fap folder and just remove it with out the infraction being given did I do wrong? By consequence no, but by rule yes, and yet the only weighted factor was the subjectiveness about how nice the tits looked.



I like boobies.
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