[pp.int.general] PPI GA Prague / Video Conference System for remote delegates

[Gregory Engels]

Hello Choms, 

Wolfgang has already a working (and proven) solution, that allow anybody to watch live video stream without having flash installed. He has described it already three times at least on this list. What is the advantage of what you suggesting?

On 29.12.2011, at 13:38, Choms wrote:

> Mh, why don't just stream via OGG on a html5 page for output (so anybody can see it without flash),

(no, not anybody, but only people using the latest generation of web browsers... It also excludes all the people that have to use IE)

> then for income let people to use various communication methods (IRC for those who don't want flash, and actual system for those who want to speak with audio + video)? I think is better to mount various possibilities than only one who includes everybody (imho)

No. it is not. really not. Please take a step back from the technical implementation details and look on the issue that needs to be addressed:

The PPI is an umbrella organization of Pirate Parties and other juristic entities (german youth pirates, pirates without borders,... ). It is acting as an international NGO - representing the interests of its members. Due to statutes, there needs to be a general assembly of the PPI's members at least once a year. To handle all the bureaucratic stuff like electing a board, the arbitrators, the auditors, but also to network and mingle and spread ideas and best practices. It was the will of the founding members to write into the statues that a remote participation should be always possible and that all important meetings of the PPI should be public and available for remote participants over the internet. This is due to self inflicted obligation to political transparency of the pirate movement. It is a direct consequence of the same demand directed towards the "established" political systems - Politics should be transparent and democratic. 

Now - this has nothing to do with free or unfree software, or any idealism of any users: Since the participants of the general assembly of the Pirate Parties International are political entities, being only represented by humans, they do not share the same freedoms as do real people, and the concerns of any inconveniences for the single delegates are ranked second behind the political transparence. 

(and we are not talking about the "regular" streaming for the general public, observing the conference, that is handled well by the regular streaming/recording) 

The PPI should implement a system that allows the most participation, and this is the in person meeting. The remote participation is only a substitution and the moaning of last year remote participants proves it: they will _always_ remain "second class" participants of the conference that take place in a physical location (I think this will be true even if a star-trek like holographic projection will be invented any soon: it didn't work even for star-trek, where diplomatic events are always held in person). 

So, we could never make it "perfect" for remote delegates, but we could try to eliminate the worst  issues the skype-group chat participants had last time:  (and most of this issues are entirely not technical, but procedural)
* it was difficult (and in some cases even impossible) for a delegate to get "on the floor" in a conference discussion. 
** this was, because the laptop that had the skype conversation running was badly monitored and to put the skype video-call (of which none was even attempted, as far as I recall) on the main PA and video screen
** also, if there was an audio call from a remote participant, that would get noticed and actually put on the PA and the main screen - the audio was really bad - because the remote participant had not switched off their audio of the live-stream, that resulted in feedback-loops and heavily  echos.
* the remote delegates had a chat among themselves, that was completely unnoticed,  and therefore ignored, by the "inhouse" delegates. 

What Wolfgang suggesting is a solution to the second part of the problem - addressing the audio feedback and echos, and also make it easier to put the remote participant on the main screen. 

It does not address the non-technical issues of conference proceedings that make it difficult for a remote delegate to "raise his voice". 

It would be simply impractical to create "various possibilities than only one who includes everybody" - this would worsen the problems of remote delegates that they will not be able to do any real participation besides of just voting. 

We need one solution, that works well. And then it is to the member parties to find a delegate, that could agree to use this system. I am sure that also in the Pirate Party of Brazil might be people, who would not mind to use flash on their computer. And then, everybody from Brazil,  who has problems with installing flash (or skype) could travel in brazil to the one who has not this concerns. Or Brazil could send his delegate again to europe and crowd-source the travel money, it worked in the past, and I am sure it could work again. Or, (and this is the last one) the PPI Statutes also allow to delegate a voice to another one, who is present in person at the conference - provided that such a trust exists. 

sincerely, 


Gregory Engels
International Coordinator
Pirate Party of Germany

mobile: +49 172 853 44 91
skype:gregory.engels
jabber:dichter at jabber.piratenpartei.de
my free time: https://tungle.me/dichter



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