While the copyright consultation is taking centre stage at this point in time, quietly rolling along in the background is the Pirate Party of Canada which is gradually picking up steam. Recently, the website that the Pirate Party of Canada has upgraded to a more user friendly interface.
A member of the Pirate Party of Canada has written in to inform us that the Canadian Pirate Party has recently undergone a makeover of the original website. It even has a brand new domain at PirateParty.ca.
Already, back on July 2nd, just a little over a month ago, we reported on the formation of the party as it looked for members to help spread the word of the party. Just days later, after getting major recognition online, it caught the attention of the Green Party of Canada who commented that the Pirate Party of Canada was not necessary given that Canada has the Green Party. Members of the Pirate Party responded saying that, among other things, this is an excellent sign for the Pirate Party for getting such recognition.
The new website is a far cry from the old website as it no longer has just a row of links and a logo on the home page. There’s a blog, a more integrated navigation bar and, interestingly enough, a picture of a pirate ship that seems to resemble the former logo of ThePirateBay.
The Canadian Pirate Party is still seeking more membership. Their goal is to become the first Pirate Party outside of Europe to have a formally registered political party. As of this writing, the membership is currently just shy of 30% of the needed signatures to become a formally registered party. It will be interesting how well the party spreads its word online as well as how membership will rise now that a Fall session of classes are coming up in the coming weeks in Canada given that the traditional age group for people voting for the Pirate Party has been around the 18-30 years of age. There’s plenty of opportunity for growth given that the Canadian mainstream parties seem to have still been trying to grasp the full potential of the internet to garner support in Canada.
What also bodes well for the user rights movement in general is that there’s the additional momentum of the Pirate Party. If, after the Copyright consultation, the government somehow decides, against the will of Canada, to table another Bill C-61 with three strikes and a restriction of Fair Dealings, for example, there’ll be increased motivation to vote for the Pirate Party.
Certainly interesting times for the party. It further highlights the growing movement of the party given that just yesterday, the UK Pirate Party, became formally registered as a political party.
Pirate Party homepage
Pirate Party member signup page
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Don’t have time this coming year to join as a member, but I would consider it in a year or two.
Believe me, the Pirate Party is necessary and sents a strong message towards other parties. After the Swedish success the German Piratenpartei is not massively gaining ground in terms of membership, organisation building and news coverage. The important aspect here is the creation of coverage in all the states. Pirate parties shape the debate because they develop new methods for the participation of their constituency. We can exchange best pratices across borders. For crucial policy assaults on our digital freedoms as ACTA we need to build international structures, because they affect Canada, the US, Mexico, Europe, etc.
As a Green in the US I must say that if the Canadian Green Party actually said that there was no need for the Pirate Party in Canada since there is a Green Party then they may want to think about the word paternalism. Of course, as a Yank I have no right to criticize, but we hear the same sort of garbage down here from Democrats.
The Green Party has no inherent right to anyone’s vote or membership. If the Canadian Green Party wants supporters of the Pirate Party to join their efforts instead of forming their own party then the Greens must do the outreach needed to get them on board.
I personally believe that many Pirate Party members or potential members would feel as at home in the Green Party as I do. Even so, to suggest that they should not organize as a separate party is not taking what I believe is a Green attitude. Adults get to make up their own minds.
theives!!!!