Pirate Parties International

Pirate Parties International (PPI) is the political international of the Pirate Party movement. It was formally founded in 2010 at the PPI conference in Brussels, Belgium.^[1]

Aims

The PPI statutes^[2] give its purposes as:

to help establish, to support and promote, and to maintain communication and co-operation between pirate parties around the world.

The PPI also has goals of raising awareness of, spreading and unifying the pirate movement through coordination, information-sharing, and assisting in the foundation of new pirate parties.^[2]

The party strives to reform laws regarding copyright and patents. The agenda also includes support for a strengthening of the right to privacy, both on the Internet and res extensa (physical life), and the transparency of state administration.^[3]

History

The first Pirate party was the Swedish Piratpartiet, founded on January 1, 2006 by Rick Falkvinge. Other parties and groups were formed in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. In 2007, representatives of these parties met in Vienna, Austria to form an alliance and plan for the 2009 European Parliament elections.^[4] Further conferences were held in 2008 in Berlin and Uppsala, the latter leading to the "Uppsala Declaration" of a basic platform for the elections.^[5]

In September 2008, Andrew Norton (United States) was appointed as coordinator of the PPI collective. In August 2009 he stepped down^[6] and passed the function of coordinator over to the "coreteam" led by Patrick Mächler and Samir Allioui.^[7]

In 2009 the original Pirate Party won 7.1% of the vote ^[8] in Sweden's European Parliament elections and won two of Sweden's eighteen MEP seats inspired by a surge in membership following the trial and conviction of three members of the ideologically aligned Pirate Bay a year earlier. ^[9]

On 18 April 2010, the Pirate Parties International was formally founded in Brussels at the PPI Conference from April 16 to 18.^[1]

On 17 January 2011, an activist of the Tunisian Pirate Party, Slim Amamou, was appointed Secretary of State of Youth and Sport^[10][11][12] in the Tunisian government. On 25 May 2011, he resigned from his position, stating that once the country's democratic elections were planned, his mission would be over.^[13]

In September 2011 in the Berlin state elections The Pirate Party won 8.9% of the vote and its first ever seats in a state parliament anywhere in the world. ^[14]

Structure

The PPI is governed by a board, led by two co-chairs.^[15] Policy, govenance, and applications for membership are the responsibility of the PPI General Assembly which must convene at least once per year.^[16]

Pirate Party movement worldwide

Outside Sweden, pirate parties have been started in over 40 countries^[17], inspired by the Swedish initiative.

References

External links

• Official website