By Rick Falkvinge / Source: TorrentFreak Strangely unreported by mainstream media, there is a major revision of the copyright monopoly underway in the European Union. And the person in charge, Julia Reda, is a Pirate Party representative. The tide is turning. For years – nay, for decades – net activists and freedom-of-speech activists have been… Continue reading
Searched for "pirates"
What we can learn from the pirates
Excerpted from Kester Brewin: “In May 1724, in a small bookshop just a stone’s throw from St Paul’s, Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates went on sale, and became an instant hit. Though pirates’ bodies were hung in gibbets along the banks of the Thames… Continue reading
Details on the German Pirates
Excerpted from an interview, conducted by Hank Pellissier, of German Pirate Party leader (‘political director’), Marina Weisband: “HP: What do you think the Pirate victory indicates about the German voters’ mood? MW: I think that the German voters are tired of the political style of the established parties. Only 6% of Germans are fond of… Continue reading
What the victory of the German Pirates means for the rest of the world
Excerpted from Glyn Moody: “Obviously, even with their 15 seats, the German Pirate Party stands little hope of bringing these ideas to fruition. But it can still achieve a great deal, as Rick Falkvinge, the founder of the first Pirate Party, points out: When Green Parties entered parliaments, the oil industry lobby became ineffective overnight…. Continue reading
Shanzai!! How China’s Cell Phone Pirates Brought Down Middle Eastern Governments
Excerpted via Solidarity Economy, originally in Fast Company. Part 1: Background and origins in Taiwan and China “In 2004, a Taiwanese electronics firm named MediaTek unveiled its latest product–a cell-phone-in-a-box aimed at manufacturers, equipped with everything they needed to make the guts of a working phone on one chipset. Write some software, add features, and… Continue reading
Book: Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership
Book: Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership. By Sonia Katyal and Eduardo Penalver. Yale University Press, 2010 Author’s Intro by Sonia Katyal: “In a nutshell, the book argues that a degree of civil disobedience is essential to the health of both tangible property and intellectual property law. It explores… Continue reading
Pirates and Piracy: special issue of darkmatter journal
“Debates about piracy have long featured certain telling contradictions. At different times, pirates have been seen as both violent monsters and colourful folk heroes. They have been cast by historians and cultural critics as both capitalist marauders and militant workers fighting for a restoration of the commons. The pirate has become a compelling symbol of… Continue reading
The biggest pirates are the biggest spenders
In the more extensive original version of the article from which we are excerpting, science fiction author Cory Doctorow explains why it is a good idea for authors to share free e-books with their potential fans. He als makes the point that filesharing is mostly about discovering new cultural creations that one is not ready… Continue reading
Pirates as true friends of music
What we can learn from the studies is that true music fans buy and pirate more music. The labels are fighting against those who generate a large chunk – perhaps even the largest – of their yearly revenue. The labels should understand that piracy is merely a signal that they are on the wrong track…. Continue reading
On pirates past and present
As we already explained in our wiki article on Pirate governance, pirates are not who we were taught they were, but used advanced and egalitarian means to distribute resources. In the Huffington Post, Johann Hari refers to the historical record to help us understand the social role of Somali pirates: (thanks to Marc Fawzi for… Continue reading
Who were the pirates?
People who want to share music or videos or want to reform copyright are often accused of practicing piracy, but the question asked by David Bollier is: where pirates really so bad? Excerpt: “As the “piracy” metaphor has gained currency, its literal history has all but disappeared from memory. But it’s worthy revisiting that history… Continue reading
Mark Surman proposes a new political compass uniting pirates and communautarians
Mark Surman has an interesting blogpost reviewing various attempts to broaden the left/right divide with the new open paradigm. After a review of the other alternative attempts, he comes up with his own, which is pictured above. He concludes that: “We need both halves of open. And, while each group needs to insist on doing… Continue reading
New hope for the noosphere and noopolitik — the global commons
This is a draft section for our forthcoming paper on “The Continuing Promise of the Noösphere and Noöpolitik — Twenty Years After. Republished from Materials for Two Theories: TIMN and STA:C Notes about the noosphere and noopolitik — #7: new hope for the noosphere and noopolitik — the global commons UPDATE — May 4, 2018:… Continue reading
Patterns of Commoning: Films and Videos about the Commons
There are hundreds of worthy films and videos dealing with issues related to the commons in one way or another – forestry, finance, water, copyright, and more. However, the number of them that deal directly with the commons as commons are fairly few. Below, some of the more noteworthy productions of the past five years…. Continue reading
Encrypted Tractors – and the Open Source Solution
Imagine that you’re a farmer who bought a John Deere tractor for $25,000 – or perhaps a big, heavy-duty model for $125,000 or more. Then something goes wrong with the computer software inside the tractor (its “firmware”). Thanks to a new licensing scheme, only John Deere can legally fix the tractor – for exorbitant repair… Continue reading
Reason, creativity and freedom: the communalist model
Whether the twenty-first century will be the most radical of times or the most reactionary … will depend overwhelmingly upon the kind of social movement and program that social radicals create out of the theoretical, organizational, and political wealth that has accumulated during the past two centuries… The direction we select … may well determine… Continue reading