Tuesday 23 March 2010

Vote Pirate!: Pirate Party UK issues it's manifesto

The Pirate Party have now launched their manifesto for the forthcoming UK elections.  There are LOTS of good stuff on the list - including tackling many of the UKs biggest shortfalls in building a free and fair society for the digital age....  in the areas of privacy, surveillance, data protection and intellectual property. It's a manifesto aimed at protecing and strengthening the rights of the individual.

Here is the shortform version..

"We will give the public the following new rights:
  • The right to share files provided no money changes hands.
  • The right to format shift and time shift data. 
  • The right of access to government funded data. 
  • The right to compensation for government data loss. 
  • The right to safely encrypt private data. 
  • The right to apply to a court for compensation where data protection laws have been broken.  
  • The right for constituents to force a by-election. 
  • The right to pay only for the fraction of the claimed broadband speed that an ISP actually delivers. 
  • The right to be a whistleblower. 
  • The right for photographers and filmmakers to go about their business without persecution under anti-terror laws.
  • The right for disabled people to demand an unrestricted version of DRM protected content where that is necessary to allow them to access it.
We will reform outdated laws:
  • We will abolish drug patents, replacing them with subsidies. 
  • We will reduce the length of copyright to 10 years. 
  • We will provide exemptions to patent law for non-commercial use, personal study and academic research. 
  • We will introduce system of compulsory patent licensing
  • We will reform libel law.
  • We will prohibit the abuse of RIPA powers.
  • We will remove loopholes in copyright and patent law.
We will protect the public from abuses of new technology: 
  • We will forbid third parties from intercepting or monitoring communication traffic
  • We will introduce a mandatory warning label on products that include DRM.
  • We will introduce laws on the acceptable use of CCTV and DNA samples.
  • We will legislate in favour of net neutrality.
  • We will introduce stronger data protection laws
  • We will not allow government censorship of the internet
  • We will put into action the government's Open Source Action Plan.
  • We will require the BBC to release all their content under a Creative Commons licence.
  • We will prevent the BBC from using DRM technology.
  • We will ensure better computing education in schools."
Piratpartiet &; The Pirate Party -  Make your voice heard.

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