[pp.int.general] About PP Russia

[Fedor Khod'kov]

Hello!

PPI resources say us what Pirate Party exists in Russia, linking to
their website (pirateparty.ru).  Unfortunately, people who run this
website and call themselves PP of Russia seem to have views which are
too different from those usually associated with PP and don't seem to
possess courage and competence needed to run a social movement.

They failed to recognize the repressive nature of current copyright
system.  They claim that the only thing that's wrong with it is the fact
that authors get too little cut of the profit.  Public rights doesn't
concern them; PPR is too afraid of being labeled as "freeloaders" if
they don't give the authors 100% guarantee that PPR program would make
them richer.

Such position is very strange in modern Russia, where government
agencies are starting to recognize copyright laws as an excuse for them
to harass human rights activists, environmentalists and members of other
non-government organizations.  In January 2010, police of Krasnodar krai
attacked Anastasia Denisova, head of regional NGO "ETHnICS", seizing her
laptop and accusing her of copyright infringement
(http://solidarity.hrworld.ru/en/denisova).  This case was reported to
PPR at their webforum.  Stanislav Shakirov, one of active PPR members,
commented it with only helpless "Nda...".  Mr. Shakirov was later
elected as the first PPR Chairman.

In 28th January, police of Irkutsk raided the office of NGO "Baikal
Ecological Wave"
(http://www.impunitywatch.net/impunity_watch_europe/2010/01/russian-police-raid-offices-of-environmental-ngo.html).
Policemen claim that environmentalists used non-licensed software.  They
refused to look at licence papers and destroyed Windows holographic
stickers.

When I reported this case to PPR, Mr. Shakirov (already official PPR
leader) said the law which permits police to attack people and make them
prove their innocence wasn't wrong; it is just some government agents
abused their power.  Such ideas isn't infamiliar to Russian people: many
neo-stalinists claim that there was nothing wrong with Stalin and with
notorious 58 article of Russian Criminal Code (this article was commonly
used to prosecute people during Stalin repressions); the local doers who
have run to the very extremes are to blame.

In 31th January, PPR website published their "official reaction" to the
attack against Baikal defenders (http://pirateparty.ru/home/?p=294,
Russian).  PPR not only failed to expose anti-human nature of copyright
law, they were too shy even to support Irkutsk activists, saying

     <...> Pirate Party of Russia calls all non-government organizations
     to be more serious with software installed on their computers.

and

     <...> We all want to live in legal state, which means we must obey
     even the unwise laws and use only legal means to change them.

Effectively, PPR put the blame for the abuse on the victims of abuse.

Members of PP Russia often say what their position is supported by PPI.
It is not unusual for them to respond to critics saying something like
"our position is in agreement with PPI's, so go to them and f**k their
brains if you disagree; we aren't going to argue with you."  PPR members
say that one of major goals for any Pirate Party is to make "free
software cultists" to shut up and prevent software industry from being
destroyed by them; and that they are going to do so in Russia.  As said
Mr Shakirov:

   I don't give a f**k to those rights (the citizen's rights which free
   software movement aims to protect, and the presumption of innocence
   which is violated then *you* need to prove that your copy of software
   is legal and many others -- F.Kh.) and don't want to use them, so let
   me use that I want.  Don't destroy companies which make the product
   for me without providing the working replacement!

PPR Chairman obviously puts his loyalty to proprietary software vendors
above citizen's rights what current copyright system violates and what
Pirate Party should defend.

I think Pirate Party International shouldn't endorse such a position;
and, because PPR claims such an endorsement exist, I think PPI should
talk to PPR members about objectives and principles of pirate movement;
and probably think more carefully whether PPR should be treated as a
part of pirate movement or not.
-- 
Fedor.