[pp.int.general] ACTA declaration

[Boris Turovskiy]

Hi there again,
and I've simply had enough.
Jerry, Gerry, if you have something to contradict - and I hope you do  
-do so, but please in public.

OK guys, I've encountered this attitude in the Pirate movement just one 
time too many now.

There's a shitload of arguments out there supporting our positions, they 
need only to be dug up and brought to the people's attention. But no, 
what do we do instead? We produce tons of hot air, too lazy to check on 
even the simplest facts but indulging in thousand-page-flamewars over 
obscure pseudo-philosophical issues. Wait, you say that's one of our 
main accusations towards existing political parties? Well, look into the 
mirror next time you say that.

Take the issues of copyright and everything related to it. There's a lot 
of high-profile research showing that most of what the media industry is 
saying is bullshit. There's historical evidence which clearly states how 
and for whose benefit copyright laws have been developed. There are 
calculations and eye-witness accounts of whom the current copyright 
system serves best. Everything right under our nose, available in three 
mouse clicks through google. Now how often is that mass of evidence and 
arguments utilized, especially compared to the number of far-fetched 
philosophical theories and statements that are "true because they are 
right", as an old Soviet saying about Lenin's theory goes?

Do you believe we in Germany would have achieved what we did in the wake 
of the internet blockage law if we said only "It's censorship and it's 
bad"? Well, luckily we didn't stop at that. We provided evidence that 
the measure is ineffective, easily circumvented, that the government's 
statement that there's no other way to combat child pornography is 
simply not true, that our warning about censorship is no idle threat 
(thanks to the other parties for that: just several hours after the law 
has been passed with the promise that it is going to be only ever used 
for blocking child pornography, three proposals to extend it to gambling 
sites, online gaming and filesharing sites were brought forward). So why 
can't we always work like that?


Best,
Boris

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