Early this morning, the final draft of the Informal Predecisional/Deliberative Draft of the dubiously named Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was released by Knowledge Ecology International (KEI).[1]

“The text has shifted dramatically from the initial documents revealed by Wikileaks when this secretive treaty was first exposed. In some respects it is a slightly better document than previous leaked drafts, with some sections being watered down — however at first glance we don’t perceive this draft as being any more benign” Rodney Serkowski, President of the Pirate Party Australia said.

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[PDF Version]

The Obama Administration is calling for its allies, including our own government, to investigate and charge Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for leaking the Afghan War Diaries.[1] Pirate Party Australia calls for the Federal government to reject this attempt to silence one of the greatest defenders of freedom and democracy this country has produced.

Pirate Party activist Simon Frew said “It is unfortunate that a nation such as the United States, with such a pretense for defending freedom has fallen so far as to be calling for a global man-hunt of Mr Assange for leaking information about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. The leak shows a systematic attempt to cover up every bad turn in the war and to keep the citizens of the countries involved in the dark about what is happening.”

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[PDF Version]

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has unsurprisingly come out in support of a graduated response mechanism, better known as ‘Three Strikes’, in their war on sharing.[1]

“Pirate Party Australia completely rejects the implementation of any system that disconnects account holders from the Internet, increasingly the most important platform for communication and political discourse today, upon allegation of infringement, without full judicial oversight and due process. Mechanisms like this will see entire households disconnected, upon an allegation from an industry association.” said Party Secretary, Rodney Serkowski.

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Recently, a document that is allegedly a consolidated discussion paper of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was leaked in full to the internet. Today, due to the complete lack of a transparent public consultation process with ACTA, Pirate Party Australia will also be mirroring this controversial document, in order to fuel public awareness and debate surrounding government transparency. You can view the PDF with
software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader by visiting the following link.

Download PDF Version of Secret ACTA Documents

Download PDF Version of Press Release

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26 March, 2010

Dear Minister,

My name is David Gaetjens. I am the Vice President of Pirate Party Australia. I have read the “Update on Labor’s mandatory web filter plan” article on your blog and I am interested in further clarification. Although you have voiced an opinion on various censorship issues, you seem to have stopped short of saying how Liberal intends to vote on such issues, if and when legislation is presented.

Could you please answer the following questions so that we, and the electorate, may understand your party’s policies?

* What is the Liberal Party’s policy on Mandatory Internet Filtering?

* How will you vote if mandatory filter legislation is introduced?

* How will you vote if opt-out filter legislation is introduced?

* How will you vote if opt-in filter legislation is introduced?

* What is the Liberal Party’s policy on R18+ Classification for games?

Is the Liberal Party planning an independent review of the results of the filtering trials due to the controversy surrounding these results?

What alternatives to ISP-based internet filtering are the Liberal Party considering? Would an optional PC-based content filter, such as the one provided by the previous Coalition government be considered?

Thank you for taking the time to read our enquiries. I look forward to your considered reply at your earliest convenience. If you want to discuss these policies in greater detail, I would be more than happy to organise a meeting.

Kind Regards,

David Gaetjens
Vice President
Pirate Party Australia

Web: http://www.pirateparty.org.au/
Email: [email protected]