At this point from what I understand European youth lack any kind of overarching agenda or even common ground. This issue of copyright is very relevant, partiuclary within the pained EU framework
I agree, Awilliams. So long as these fringe parties don't really stand a chance of running countries (which I don't think they do) I think they could help to push alternative issues to the forefront.
AW: thanks for the return to sanity. Yes, it may be a more important story in European politics, especially if the movement can siphon disillusioned young people from the increasingly mainstream Greens.
Anyway, I think that the pirate party success is actually very exciting. Shows what issues are important to the youth of Europe which is not a voice we often hear from
There are clearly more opportunities for small, focused parties under European electoral systems. Let's not get into electoral reform, but it's a different system.
It just seems to me that something like a Pirate Party has a better shot at getting media attention than the EFF does. So even if the party's sole accomplishment is bringing these issues to the surface, I think that's not such a bad thing.
I was surprised to find that there are 22 Pirate Parties officially registered around the world. Plenty busy with activism: http://www.pp-international.net/
Maybe that's true for the States, but there seems to be a moderate groundswell in Europe. Getting 15 candidates elected to a State Parliament at this early stage in their development indicates swifter growth than the Green Party. But it may be a niche thing.
I agree that copyright law is insane and needs a refresh. So perhaps if nothing else the emergence of the Pirate Party could at least help put new ideas in motion.
While the issue of copyright infringement in the music world sort of annoys me, given the greed and would-be reign of terror by record companies, in literature I'm not so sure. A lot of authors aren't getting paid what they should because books are being replaced with CDs or digital versions and royalties are reduced significantly.
@AW, there are already some companies which have lawyers constantly monitoring the Internet to spot just reproductions of trademarks - let alone content. It's a ridiculous situation.
@Nicole: Yes, definitely. I think copyright law needs to be totally revamped. It's ruining whole businesses. Whole industries are shifting, and copyright isn't keeping up.
It's pretty clear that we're in some really iffy territory. I think once we see 3D printers really come into their own it's going to get even more so. Just how different must your specs be to be able to print something? Can you patent a fork?
Copyright is a thorny issue too. As a writer, I guard my rights jealously, but strict enforcement of existing copyright law is just downright impossible: which suggests it needs another look.
On patents, there's an inherent problem. They need to be very precisely and narrowly drafted, so if you don't ring fence your valuable patent with a series of variations (which are then shelved), a competitor can patent a very similar invention.
We have legitimate patenting going on regularly. But then there are questions about whether patents shold extend to some kinds of processes rather than material innovations.
My pleasure. I think it's no bad thing to be opposed to political parties as such, but I have no idea how to get rid of them. The Pirate Party needs to rebrand itself at some point to be taken seriously.
I am in agreement with a no-party system. Especially as we're about to see another threat of government shutdown thanks to fighting between our two national parties.
A US Pirate party wouldn't work the same way. The way the congress works favors a 2-3 party system max. I think at one point the highest we had was 5 ligitamate parties. That was about a 100 years ago with the great depression.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
