<p>Hello Pirates!</p><p>Today the Pirate Parties International starts a new series on
its website called "Party of the Week". Each week we will present one
Pirate Party from one country, ask questions, publish the answers,
promote their website, twitter accounts etc.</p>
<p>The series starts with the <a href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/">Pirate
Party UK</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/PiratePartyUK">Twitter</a>),
which on May 6th will participate for the first time in national
elections.</p><p>You can find the questions and answers on the PPI website (<a href="http://www.pp-international.net/node/472">http://www.pp-international.net/node/472</a>) or at the bottom of this message. We encourage you to promote the link to the QaA, link to the website and Twitter account of the Party of the Week and publish the questions/answers on your website/blog, on your Facebook page or print it out and show it to your friends. Each week a new Party will answer to the questions and give you the opportunity to get to know more about their aims, their message, inner structure, or simply if and where you can join or donate.</p>
<p>Get to know Pirate Parties from all over the world!</p><p>===</p><h3> Tell us why the Pirate Party of the United Kingdom is
participating in the current elections? </h3>
<p>Recent events have shown UK politics has changed, and in doing so
has become a disgrace.</p>
<p>Politicians have been abusing their expenses system, all the while
being lobbied by special interest groups with near-unlimited funding,
culminating in pushing through poorly consulted legislation such as the
Digital Economy Act (DEA). All this, combined with MPs generally
ignoring their constituents - except for a few weeks once every 5 years
- has led to a widespread feeling of disenfranchisement among the
electorate.</p>
<p>PPUK aims to modernise our copyright and patent laws (regarded as
some of the worst in the world), uphold personal privacy and government
transparency, and campaign for freedom of speech, communication and
information - all the while listening to our constituents. The passing
of the DEA is proof that lobbying is simply not enough and PPUK
provide a tangible way for the electorate to tell the major parties
exactly what is important to them.</p>
<h3> What is the message?</h3>
<p>To us, Pirate politics is fundamentally a civil rights question
about liberties which were hard-won in past ages and - shamefully -
need to be defended again in a Digital Age. Copyright is simply one
facet of this - the attempt to enforce 19th Century concepts of
copyright and "intellectual property", by 20th Century business
interests in the 21st Century result in a direct clash with people's
freedoms to communicate and share information.</p>
<p>The Digital Age has enabled every citizen to distribute data at the
touch of a button, and connect directly with any other citizen, both in
Europe and worldwide - for little to no additional cost. We live in an
age of change, with methods of distributing intangible goods and
services from our own rooms, at a fraction of the cost than was
previously possible. </p>
<p>We believe in the transparency of government, the protection of
individual privacy, and our freedom of expression and freedom to spread,
use, and develop human knowledge and culture. We support these aims
because we believe that they will lead to an even greater future - for
the collective good, and the enrichment of our now worldwide culture.</p>
<p>The possibilities offered by new technology allow this on a truly
unprecedented scale, and need to be embraced rather than feared.</p>
<h3> Tell us more about the inner structure of PPUK</h3>
<p>PPUK is managed by a National Executive Committee (NEC) consisting
of five officers elected by the members - including the Party Leader -
and are responsible for running the Party and the necessary related
legal responsibilities. Some members of the NEC have appointed deputies
to help with their duties.</p>
<p>The Party's policies have been developed by three Policy Working
Groups - taking each of the core policy areas - and the work of these
groups was refined and improved upon to form a draft manifesto. The
manifesto was then voted on, and ratified, by the members - something
rarely seen in other political parties.</p>
<p>Press releases and media requests are handled by the Press Office
which is manned by a group of volunteers. Releases are written, proofed
and edited by several members of the Press Team concurrently using
browser-based software, until an agreement is reached on all aspects.
Finally, the Party's web presence is managed by the Web Team, which
includes running the website, forums and various social media accounts,
such as YouTube, Twitter and the assorted Facebook pages.</p>
<h3> If you think 5 years ahead, what will be different compared to
today's situation?</h3>
<p>Within the next 5 years there will be another national election. In
this election, the Pirate Party will contest a much wider range of seats
than we are this year. There will also be a European Election in 2014
- an election the Party agrees will be the first it truly fights. The
election this year is very much a learning experience, and we will
certainly learn from any mistakes. We will also field as many
candidates as possible in local and regional elections (Scotland, Wales,
and London), while opposing legislation against Pirate doctrine, all
the while working with our namesakes in other countries through the
Pirate Parties International.</p>
<h3> Where can I donate? </h3>
<p>Only those registered to vote in the UK are allowed to donate to
political parties, as such, no foreign individuals or organisations can
donate to PPUK. For those eligible, there is a donation button on the
front-page, and you may also donate while purchasing items from the
Pirate shop.</p>
<h3> Can foreigners become members of PPUK? </h3>
<p>Currently it is not possible for foreigners to be party members.
This does not however mean they cannot be members of our community, and
you are most certainly welcome to spend time on our forum and in our
IRC channel (#ppuk on PirateNet).</p>
<p>---</p>
<ul><li> Pirate Party UK Website: <a href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/">http://www.pirateparty.org.uk</a>
</li><li>Pirate Party UK on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/PiratePartyUK">PiratePartyUK</a>
</li><li> Pirate Party UK on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102577189324">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102577189324</a>
</li></ul><div style="margin: 0pt;" name="sig_654775721b"></div>