Press Release – Page 37 of 61 – Pirate Party Australia

Communications Minister and Shadow Minister Battle For Piracy Credibility

Posted on April 10, 2013

“Pirate Party Australia is delighted to see the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy and Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull embrace the Pirate ethos yesterday with both openly defying copyright laws more boldly than we could hope for,” said Pirate Party Deputy President, Simon Frew. “We try to change copyright policy by campaigning for changes in the law and running candidates for Parliament, while they have both decided to openly defy the law and breach copyright on social media platforms.”

Malcolm Turnbull posted a clip of the Coalition NBN launch from ABC News24 on his YouTube page today[1] and Stephen Conroy opened his Twitter account using a Dalek as his avatar.[2] The use of a Dalek by Senator Conroy is a minor breach and most likely of no concern to the BBC who aren’t known for suing fans over minor infringements of copyright. The news clip posted by Malcolm Turnbull is a larger breach of copyright: when users post clips of sports broadcasts or news segments, broadcasters often issue take-down notices to enforce their right.

“Perhaps it is an attempt to chase the file-sharer vote,” Mr Frew continued. “Taking statistics from anti-piracy groups, approximately a quarter of Australian Internet users engage in illegal fiesharing.[3] While we view these reports with a healthy degree of skepticism, perhaps both major parties have decided to stop treating Internet users like criminals and have started to chase the ‘pirate vote’. Maybe they’re concerned about the possibility of Pirate Party Australia’s election campaign being successful.”

April Fools joke reveals absurdity of copyright laws, says Pirate Party

Posted on April 2, 2013

With many people believing Pirate Party Australia’s April Fools gag was genuine, the issue highlights the fact that it is becoming increasingly impossible to distinguish real instances of overzealous copyright holders’ claims from parodies of their behaviour.

The Party released a statement claiming that it had received a takedown request in regard to a poster that parodied YouTube’s notice that a video had been removed due to a copyright claim[1]. Although this was an obvious joke to those who created it, the Party was surprised when people mistook the fictitious claim as genuine.

“The resulting enquiries regarding whether or not this actually happened amazed us because we thought the idea was too far fetched to be believable,” said Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer, Deputy Secretary of Pirate Party Australia. “Rather than poking fun by parodying copyright maximalists, it appears we came frighteningly close to the truth.”

Pirate Party takedown parody poster receives takedown request, is taken down

Posted on April 1, 2013

This is an April Fool’s joke. 🙂

Pirate Party Australia has been handed a takedown request after the Party began issuing a poster design that parodies YouTube’s “this video is no longer available due to a copyright claim” notification. The Party has promptly ceased distribution and production of the poster, and begun to recall any that might still be at large.

“We were under the impression that parody and satire would be respected, but rather than fight this we decided to comply,” said Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer, Deputy Secretary of Pirate Party Australia. “This request is symptomatic of the absurdity of modern copyright maximalism. Time and time again copyright holders treat the public — which has generously allowed them to have these rights — with contempt. We must never forget that copyright is granted by law in the interests of society. When laws are abused or become inadequate, they need to be changed. Copyright should be no exception.”

Pirate Party Highlights Continued Opacity of Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Posted on March 7, 2013

Witnesses at ongoing negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in Singapore have reported that Disney has called for an increase in copyright terms, to the disdain of the unsurprised Pirate Party Australia[1]. Like all previous rounds it is unclear exactly what is being negotiated, as the process is completely opaque.

Pirate Party Australia is opposed to Australia’s continued involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on the grounds that it is not being negotiated transparently, and leaked texts show strong pushes for stricter intellectual property regimes. Such provisions have been likened to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which Australia is a signatory to, but which last year was defeated in the European Parliament following massive protests across the European Union.

“Yesterday saw the first day of stakeholder negotiations of the latest round. Of particular note was a representative from Disney claiming that copyright terms needed to be expanded to protect its intellectual property, highlighting visits to Disney Land and being able to see IronMan 3 as reasons for longer copyright terms,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of Pirate Party Australia.

Cybercrime Convention Ratification Leaves Lingering Concerns

Posted on March 5, 2013

The Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Convention was ratified by Australia on Friday, 1 March 2013[1]. Pirate Party Australia has previously criticised the Convention for being flawed in regard to the protection of privacy and personal data[2].

The Pirate Party notes that the Australian Parliament has already passed a comprehensive piece of legislation in August 2012 that complies with the requirements of the Cybercrime Convention. The pious-sounding Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act 2012[3] includes the ability for a foreign country to ask Australia for a communication by an Australian if the crime for which they are accused carries the death penalty in the requesting country.

The current legislation could allow a country to gather data about Australian citizens for any crime with a penalty exceeding $100,000, or that carries the death penalty. Due to the loose dual-criminality provisions within the Act, this could potentially allow countries with blasphemy laws, criminal copyright provisions or laws against activism to access Australian data.

The treaty’s entry into force comes at a time when the Australian Government, with the support of various law enforcement agencies, is examining an extensive range of proposed amendments to national security and intelligence legislation and regulations. Included among these changes are the mandatory, warrantless two-year retention of the Internet communications of all Australians, the ability for law enforcement agencies to not only remotely access citizens computers but to also add software and other files to them, as well as penalties for failing to assist in decrypting encrypted data.