EDITION 8, JANUARY 10, 2013
Welcome to the first edition of the Pirate Times newsletter for 2013.
This time we start with news from Belgium. The Pirate Party Belgium had a extraordinary general assembly to restructure their party. Furthermore we have another case of blocking, as Iceland Piratepads are blocked as \"hate-speech\" and \"computer crimes\". Another article concerns something that most find positive, automatic blocking of ads, but this tilts and violates network neutrality when done automatically by an ISP.
But there is also good news, with the Public Domain Day a lot of copyrighted content entered the Public Domain. The ITU conference took place in Dubai back in December. We also go in on the origion of the word pirate and its connection to human knowledge.
As for the PPI, the board has made a decision on who will host the next general assembly. They decided for Kazan in Russia but the date isn\'t known yet, it will be released in the next two weeks.
We hope you enjoy these news and we\'re always happy for feedback, ideas or tips at contact@piratetimes.net
May 2013 bring even more good news than 2012,
The Pirates Times Team
Btw: You can also read the Pirate Times online at our blog or for offline reading just download the PDF version: http://piratetimes.net/wp-uploads/news/ ... ition8.pdf
Contents
Restructuring the Belgian Pirate Party
WRITTEN BY KOEN DE VOEGT ON DECEMBER 27, 2012
On Saturday 22 December 2012 members of the Belgian Pirate Party met up for an extraordinary general assembly (EGA). This gathering was held in the Wallonian student city of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. This location was a symbolic choice, during the communal elections of 14 October the party reached 5.16%, its best result ever. Only 14 votes shy of our first city councillor.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/restructuring-the-belgian-pirate-party/
Pirates are Implementing the Experience of Human Knowledge
WRITTEN BY STATHIS LEIVADITIS ON DECEMBER 30, 2012
The English "Pirate" is derived from the Greek word "πειρατής" (peiratēs) and this in turn from the verb "πειράομαι" (peiráomai), "I attempt", which is a derivative of the noun "πείρα" (peîra), "experience". Pirate indicates the investigator, the tester, is a key word for humanity and characterizes our species. Basically, we are all Pirates, that’s what we do every day, we try for something new at all levels and thus we become more experienced.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/pirates-are-practicing-the-experiment-of-human-knowledge/
Icelandic Authorities Blocking PiratePad as “Hate-Speech”
WRITTEN BY ANDREW REITEMEYER ON JANUARY 5, 2013
The Icelandic Pirate Party has confirmed its suspicions that Reykjavik City authorities are blocking access to one of the party's collaboration platforms, namely PiratePad. The city uses content filtering software managed by the software giant Microsoft who have labelled it under the categories "hate-speech" and "computer crimes". Libraries and schools are among institutions blocking access to PiratePad.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/piratepad-censored/
Happy Public Domain Day!
WRITTEN BY KOEN DE VOEGT ON JANUARY 5, 2013
The first of January is also known as "Public Domain Day". Due to the expiration of copyright protection terms on works produced by authors who died several decades earlier, thousands of works enter the public domain on this date. Although we Pirates think the current terms of copyright protection are exuberant, it's still worth taking a look a some of these old works that now become a freely available part of our shared world heritage.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/happy-public-domain-day/
Network neutrality: a French ISP attacks advertising
WRITTEN BY LOÏC GROBOL ON JANUARY 7, 2013
In a recent update to the firmware of its set-top box, the French ISP Free provides an add blocker. It is still in beta, but activated by default. By filtering advertisement without informing its users, it poses another threat to network neutrality. If this ad blocker is kept activated by default, the next step could be to make it mandatory, or to extend it to other contents and charge for its deactivation.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/network-neutrality-a-french-isp-attacks-advertising/
Pirate Party Russia hosts upcoming PPI Assembly
WRITTEN BY DANIEL EBBERT ON JANUARY 8, 2013
The upcoming General Assembly of Pirate Party International (PPI) will be held in Kazan, Russia. So decided the PPI board on January 8 2013. The conference will be held in a weekend in April and will be the first one held outside of the European Union.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/pirate-party-russia-hosts-upcoming-ppi-assembly/
Global Internet Surveillance – all for the protection of copyright?
WRITTEN BY DOMINIC GUHL ON JANUARY 10, 2013
In December, the ITU "World Conference on International Telecommunications" was held in Dubai. The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, having over 190 states as members. Numerous controversial proposals find their way onto its deskk.
Read more http://piratetimes.net/global-internet-surveillance-all-for-the-protection-of-copyright/
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