If the problem is the illegality, we are also illegal in Brazil! A party illegal, as all serious parties are born.<br><br>We went through two dictatorships followed by more than 50 years. And that dictatorship was possible only two parties. Two "equal" parties.<br>
Our recent history is the history of the parties hanging.<br> <br>How much parties are in the U.S.? I only remember two.<br><br clear="all">Rodrix<br><a href="http://www.partidopirata.org">http://www.partidopirata.org</a><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/10/17 Glenn Kerbein <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:glenn.kerbein@pirate-party.us">glenn.kerbein@pirate-party.us</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
All,<br>
I am stepping down as co-administrator of the US Pirate Party. I had a<br>
falling out with the new administration (Ryan, Bethany, et al.);<br>
surmounting issues were just straws that eventually broke the camel's<br>
back. My tenure will be completed by the end of the month.<br>
Over the time that I've been here, talking with the other parties,<br>
Andrew, etc. I have some thoughts.<br>
First and foremost: Unlike a majority of our counterparts, our body's<br>
structure is unique. Here in the States, a non-profit corporation<br>
[501c3] grants donors the ability to deduct a monetary amount from their<br>
income taxes. We, however, are registered through the tax authority (the<br>
IRS) as a Political Action Committee [PAC, or 527], which have<br>
tax-exempt status. 501c3 corporations are strictly prohibited from doing<br>
any lobbying or work with political parties and are forbidden from<br>
endorsing a candidate.Along with these tax exemptions comes great<br>
responsibility: each entity must provide arduous effort to not incite<br>
nor infer any illicit acts; this includes filesharing.<br>
Many of our European counterparts want to outright deny any intelligent<br>
reasoning why filesharing should become licit, nor how to compensate for<br>
it. Simply saying "go ahead and do it, we can't stop you" only<br>
exacerbates the issue. It leads to litigation like the PRO-IP Act, the<br>
PIRATE Act, ACTA, any a slurry of other campaigns the entertainment<br>
industry launches. In conclusion: we have significantly more trenchant<br>
platforms to pursue than to vindicate illicit filesharers.<br>
Secondly, the direction that a few of the PPs have been going may not<br>
be in the best of interests. I've spoken to numerous news outlets and<br>
had many stories printed with my name in them. Only two stood out - one<br>
on Ars Technica by Nate Anderson and the other on CrunchGear by Nicholas<br>
Deleon [the latter being my favorite]. The others seem to have the<br>
predisposition to link our name to a peach-colored website. I've said on<br>
several occasions (and above) that we were not created to vindicate<br>
filesharers, nor indemnify anyone in the employ of said website. The<br>
opposite sentiment is a notion that the other news outlets are<br>
predisposed to think, despite arguing with them. The press release PPNL<br>
sent out only supports this.<br>
Granted - Exacting exorbitant fines is not a solution to mitigating<br>
filesharing. Millions of dollars awarded to record companies suing<br>
mothers in the name of bands (when the money itself does not go to the<br>
bands in question) is outright outrageous. That's the issue we need to<br>
be pursuing - not lobbying for increased uptime on The Pirate Bay.<br>
<br>
I may be leaving the party as an officer, but I'm not all gone. Being<br>
relegated back to citizen status, I can participate in an unofficial<br>
capacity. Should you need me, that's how you can get ahold of me.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Glenn "Channel6" Kerbein<br>
United States Pirate Party<br>
"Burn, Hollywood, Burn"<br>
<a href="http://www.pirate-party.us/" target="_blank">http://www.pirate-party.us/</a><br>
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</blockquote></div><br>