In the followup to the events that led to the Pirate Party of Australia (PPAU) leaving Pirate Parties International (PPI), the online GA, that the PPI board voted down, is now on again with an new agenda. Gone are the calls for reform to the structure and the statutes which PPAU proposed. These were withdrawn by PPAU as it resigned from PPI.  These points have been replaced with a single named item; the ability of PPI to raise fees from the membership. However motions are still open and it may be that a PPI member will re-table the withdrawn motions.

Reports have reached the Pirate Times that PPUK has also resigned from Pirate Parties International.  We have asked PPUK for a statement and will bring that to you as soon as possible. It remains to be seen if any other Parties take the same course of action.

The online GA has been rescheduled to Sunday 29 March 2015 at 10:00 Central European Time. This time means that the assembly will be convenient for most delegates around the world. The full timeline can be found on the wiki page.

The official invitation has been posted to the PPI website with perhaps the most important clause is:

“Everybody is welcome
Each PPI member can register up to six persons as official delegates (PPI Statutes IX.4), but all Pirates and interested persons are very welcome to join as guests.”

Anyone Pirate or not, delegate or not can attend and follow the proceedings.

What was at stake here is the purpose of PPI.  The statutes state the following

 

(1) The goals of the association are:

a) to act according to the major interests and goals of its Members,

b) to raise awareness and widen the spread of the pirate movement, and

c) to support the pirate movement and strengthen its bonds internally and externally,

d) to promote and support Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

(2) To accomplish these objectives the association shall, among other things:

a) provide for and extend communication between the Members of the association,

b) assist in the foundation of new pirate parties,

c) organize and coordinate global campaigns and events,

d) act as mediator or arbitrator for any disputes between Members if requested to do so,

e) share information and coordinate research on the core pirate topics,

f) contact NGO’s, administrations and international organizations, and

g) act as a contact centre for the pirate movement.

In a movement that prides itself on being grass roots based PPI can seem remote and unimportant to members fighting to win seats in local and national governments.

It has certainly achieved much in the way of raising the profile of the Pirate Movement among NGOs and in the academic world. For instance the success of the Think Twice Conferences attests to that. However many feel that more should have be done in the other areas listed. This is felt most deeply in some non European Parties that have expressed concerns that they are marginalised and that any attempts at change are met with resistance from a European faction. Not all Pirate Parties are full members noted that the founding Pirate Party PPSE has never been a full member citing inadequate statues as the main reason.There may well be room for a separate independent organisation (or even organisations) that concentrate on specific issues such as the Pirate Times. An international discussion forum has been set up at Pirateint. Icelandic Pirates are supervising the set up of an international academic journal for Pirate based issues. Speaking of Iceland there is also the International Modern Media Innitiative a long established NGO dealing with many Pirate topics.

Another problem that has dogged PPI is the lack of access to a bank account for most of its lifetime and its inability to resolve this issue. At the time of publication this problem is still unresolved.

PPI  has a bank account – you can read our correction.

We are interested to know what you, the grass roots of the movement, think. You will not be able to vote directly on the motions, should they be re-tabled, but you can let your party’s international coordinator know your views directly and you can register your opinion here in our poll. You can select two answers – one of the first two and one of the second two. The poll will be open until the online GA.

How do you think the international movement should develop?

 Featured image: CC BY-SA composite from work by Tldtld and PPI

 

 This post has been edited 24/02/2105 – The line about PPI not having a bank account has been struck through and a link to a correction given.

 

 

 

 

 

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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In the followup to the events that led to the Pirate Party of Australia (PPAU) leaving Pirate Parties International (PPI), the online GA, that the PPI board voted down, is…

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