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Pirate Party Australia is furious that the Attorney-General’s Department is considering expansive additions to Australia’s already overbearing ‘security theatre’ operations[1].
The Attorney-General’s Department is proposing a “super warrant” system that can grant ASIO sweeping investigative powers for six months. This currently requires much greater judicial oversight.
“It seems to now be a weekly occurrence that the Government adds a new act to its ‘security theatre’. If the Gillard government cares so dearly about citizen input, why were expansive changes to the ASIO Act – changes that would potentially allow ASIO to target Wikileaks – pushed through last May without public inquiry?” questioned Brendan Molloy, Secretary of Pirate Party Australia.
In this episode Sam does his first pirate profile on himself, we have a short segment from a pirate pub and the second installment of Rick Falkvinge’s History Of Copyright. Subscribe to the feed, or view past episodes.
A transcript of the webcast will be available shortly.
Quote: “In the 21st century, the Internet IS speech, IS assembly, IS association and IS the press… if a corporation can’t sustain a business without having these rights limited, then that corporation deserves to go out of business. The sooner the better.” – Rick Falkvinge
Below is Pirate Party Australia’s response to the Attorney-General’s Draft Terms of Reference for the ALRC Copyright Review.
Introduction
Pirate Party Australia is part of an international political movement that promotes the reform of copyright, right to privacy, freedom of expression, and the need for increased governmental transparency, as well as civil and digital liberties in general. Currently there are Pirate Parties registered in twenty countries, including Canada, Germany, Sweden and Spain (as well as four US States), with estimates of up to twenty-four additional unregistered parties that have formed.
Pirate Party Australia applauds today’s High Court ruling to uphold the verdict that was handed down in favour of ISP iiNet early last year.
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) initially sued the ISP over claims that the company had authorised copyright infringement by its subscribers. After losing their appeal to the Australia Federal Court, AFACT, who lead a party of 34 film studios against iiNet, appealed again to the High Court. Today the announcement was made that the second appeal was unsuccessful.
“I am sure it comes as no suprise to anyone that we welcome this ruling,” said Brendan Molloy, Secretary of Pirate Party Australia. “We reiterate that ISPs behave similarly to the postal service – they are the carriers of the message, and that message should remain private. It is not their business to police users, but merely to comply where necessary with authorities. ISPs are not, and should never be, responsible to anyone other than their subscribers and local law enforcement agencies.”
Enthusiastic talkback-style webcast that discusses Pirate Politics from the Australian perspective. Hosted by Sam Kearns. Subscribe to the feed here, or view past episodes.
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Authorised by: B Molloy, Party Secretary, Pirate Party Australia Level 26, 44 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
