Icelandic Pirates on the Verge of Government – Can we help? | PirateTimes
Icelandic Pirates on the Verge of Government – Can we help?
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How to help Icelandic Pirates is a rather difficult question to answer. With only three MPs the party does not get much funding from the state. They still need to rely mainly on their members and supporters to fund them. We, in the international pirate community, can’t send money (nor any form of material assistance) as that is forbidden by law for political parties.
Is there anything we can do to help then? The government has promised that elections will take place in the fall. This means the Pirates will have to concentrate on getting ready and while we cannot do much in that area we can help in other ways.
Practical ways to help Icelandic Pirates:
Support International Modern Media Initiative (IMMI)
The IMMI NGO was founded in 2011 with the stated goal to research and promote improved media legislation around the world and then combine it for nations to adopt as they see fit. The FAQ describes their work more thoroughly. IMMI has an active crowdfunding effort and contributing to this is one important way you can help the Icelandic Pirates. This money will not be used for the campaign but it helps the pirates to free up resources for the Pirate Party’s aim to do well in the next elections. Iceland will become the first of many “Switzerland of Bits“. For as little as $5 you can help IMMI and in so doing, lessen the burden on the Pirate Party.
As Revolution News puts it, in light of the Panama Papers, there are tax havens for the 1% IMMI will enable data havens for the 99%.
Programming
Do you have coding skills? The Pirates have been developing online tools (with an open source) to enhance democracy. These tools need further development to be ready for a government that wants to listen to the views of its tech savvy electors:
Do you know XML and a suitable programming language (preferably python but not required) for a data mining project?
Are you a Python coder that can help to develop a new version of Wasa2il?
Do you have any other coding skills that could be of use?
If that is you send a mail to piratar@piratar.is introducing yourself and outlining what you can do.
As other opportunities come to light we will relay them here. We are also looking for novel ways to support Pirates in elections in Iceland and other countries. If you are interested in joining in on some online activism please contact info@sunstone.de
Photo credits: Corrinne.Yu GotCredit IMMI CC BY
About Andrew Reitemeyer
I joined the Pirate Party of Lower Saxony in Germany in April 2012, once I found out that non citizens were welcome to join and become active members of the Party.
I joined the Pirate Times soon after it was started as a proof reader and am now an editor and author. Since then I have returned to my native New Zealand and joined the Pirate Party of New Zealand.
Politically I come from the libertarian left and have, up to now, not regarded any political party as having a solution for the democratic deficit that envelops the world. With the advent of the Pirate Party, which truly embraces grass roots democracy, I have found a political home. The Pirate Times is a way I can contribute to furthering the Pirate Movement around the world.
Skype: frithogar
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