International Pirate Manifesto
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 | This document is currently under development and is not approved or endorsed by the party. Some statements may be incorrect, unverified or otherwise objectionable to party policy or intention, and until such time as it is endorsed by the party, it does not represent the views or intentions of the party. Please read the discussion on the talk page before making substantial changes to this document. |
Contents |
Our Current Submission
Below is our current submission to the PPI Wiki (which is currently being hosted by the Piratenpartei Deutschland, the German Pirate Party), which will be used to develop the manifesto, and it details preliminary party description of policy. Bare? Yes, it's still in development. Each nation has its own interpretation, laws and exceptions amongst other peculiarities. The idea is to start the development of a CliffsNotes of current Pirate Party policy so as to contrast positions on policy, and how we might factor those in to the final manifesto or declaration.
If you make amendments to this submission, please notify admin, or note it on the forum so we might amend the submission to the PPI.
Policy Notes
The development of the Pirate Party Australia is currently in its seminal stages, having only become somewhat active in the last month or so, and policy, and indeed the scope of that policy, has not yet been thoroughly discussed and documented by active participants in the party, so for the time being let us assume that the party policy and issues will be similar to those of the Swedish sister party, with its basic tenets of Free Culture, Open Government and the Protection of Civil Liberties.
In light of this, please excuse the current brevity of this addition, as we play catch up with the more established parties, and develop the intricacies of our policy. There are of course peculiarities to the Australian political environment and legal frameworks, however I do not expect them to pose much of a problem to the development of the International Pirate Manifesto by way of excluding or contradicting other Pirate Party issues and scopes.
Copyright
Copyright, a creature entirely constructed by statute, although recognised as being somewhat necessary, is being iniquitously employed by certain industries and organisations as a means of securing failing, increasingly inefficient and irrelevant business models. The degree and duration of monopoly control afforded by the legislation is unbalanced, and excessive.
- This is having adverse impacts on the development and freedom of culture and the dissemination of information, whilst impacting the utility of consumers.
- Enforcement of copyright legislation is more and more requiring pervasive methods of observation, and the erosion of civil liberties.
- The party seeks to have the duration of protection reduced, and non-commercial copying and sharing legalised.
Patents
The rationale for patents are that a provision of exclusivity would provide encouragement for innovation, whilst providing a mechanism where innovation would be diffused by a requirement that the patent be documented. This is not happening.
- Intangible property, business methods, software, living organisms and genes must not be patentable. Hoarding of patents with no active exploitation should be prohibited.
At this point in time, it is unknown as to whether the consensus of the party will be towards reform (and what that reform should entail) or whether, the same end as the Swedish Party will be taken (i.e. the eventual abolishing of patents).
Privacy
The growing surveillance of the citizen offends the very notions of a liberal and open democracy. By allowing the continued development of the networked surveillance state, we allow those that would seek to undermine and subvert our security, their victory. The right to privacy, is inalienable, and thus must extend to the digital environment.
Non-Core Issues & Overall Intention
Like the Swedish sister party, the Pirate Party Australia does not intend to develop or have official views on any issue or event outside of its primary focus. This does not preclude members from maintaining views outside of that scope, just that those views will be external to the official party stance.
The Party does not seek to become part of the administration, but rather a mediator in parliamentary deadlocks, and to provide representation of the emergent information society, to guard the civil liberties of the citizen by utilising this power to further the party agenda.
Although this has as of yet, not been fully discussed, it would be assumed that for issues outside of party scope conscience votes should be allowed.
