Since January I was busy on several levels in organizing the general assembly together with some Pirates: Jessica Zinn from Berlin (Germany), Jelena Jovanovic from Belgrade (Serbia) and former Chairman of PPI, Andrew Reitemeyer from Pongaroa (New Zealand). We were appointed from the board as the general assembly committee. I did the supervision of the preparations, setting up the event website and gathering information about […]
If you have dreamed about an European summer tour this year might be the best possible moment for a pirate to discover Berlin and its attractions. Starting from summer, the annual meeting of Pirate Parties International will take place in Berlin, on 23rd and 24th July. Right after the conference, Berliners will have another exciting event stay tuned for: Pirates are running for the local elections. On […]
In many countries around the world, it is just as easy to access a free Wi-Fi network in a public space as it is to order a cup of coffee. But in Germany, free wireless networks are in short supply. According to a study released earlier this month by eco, the Association of the German Internet Industry e. V., Germany has – from one million […]
A Guest Post by Amelia Andersdotter EuroDIG is as always a vibrant place with many different nationalities coming together to discuss important topics for the future of internet governance. Unfortunately, many of the discussions coming up are displaced: the accountability and responsibility for deciding on important stakes for the internet community is just not present. EuroDIG 2014 was organised in Germany. This means a slight […]
Following the collapse of the government of the tiny European country of Luxembourg, due to a spying scandal, early elections were called and took place on 20 October 2013. The Pirate Party of Luxembourg was hoping to get 2% of the vote, in their first ever election and were overjoyed to see their share of the vote reaching the 2.94% over all and 3.37% in the north of the country.
The so called “Six Pack” of Reforms for Europe includes a lot of points, accepted by the general assembly of the German Pirate Party. more citizen participation and rights for the European Parliament, a Marshall plan to deal with Europe’s economic crisis, energy generation that should be decentralized, access to a net-neutral internet should be guaranteed and Creative Content licenses promoted. The concept of a “Fortress Europe” and the agency FRONTEX should be abandoned.
The week before the general assembly, on the 23 – 24 March 2013, a deep impact shaped the contrasts of the life of the Belgian Pirates. It was revealed, during the week that the co-founder of the Belgian Pirate Party, co-founder of Pirate Parties International as well as a very popular friend of Pirates worldwide, Jurgen Rateau, lost his life far too early at the age of 42. Too young to die.
Over 60 Pirates attended the annual meeting of the Pirate Party of the Netherlands on 25 November 2012. They elected members to their “Core Team” and although some positions remained vacant they developed a way to enable people who, although not gaining enough votes to gain a position, if they got a simple majority they could become reserve board members. They also reinvigorated the party’s commitment to the Uppsala Declaration and further strengthened the democratic principle with structure changes.
Last weekend, the Pirate Party of Germany held their second federal party convention of 2012 in the Ruhr city of Bochum, Northrhine Westphalia. Over 2000 registered Pirates from all over the country came to discuss and vote on motions for the party manifesto. The party’s working groups had improved upon the motion texts tirelessly for months – through late-night teleconferencing sessions via Mumble, the primary working mode of PPDE, as well as on several face-to-face meetings, like EuWiKon earlier this year. Compared to earlier Pirate conventions, the agenda was quickly agreed upon. After that, however, progress became increasingly slower.
The Galician Pirates elections as political party for the first time declaring system of political parties not work in the twenty-first century society and change it to hack the laws and our goals direct democracy full transparency.”