Pirate music lovers voice political aims

I can’t claim to be a huge download pirate, partly due to my slow wi-fi connection because I live in the country, but mostly due to the fact that I still buy 12″ records. I know that this makes me old fashioned but I like to actually own the records and more importantly  the sound of the original ‘hard copy’ is far superior than that of a condensed digital file.  However, I do often rip music off YouTube or from torrents so I can listen to it whilst I am waiting for record I’ve bought to come through the post or because I want to listen tracks that haven’t been released or are so rare that it will be virtually impossible to get hold of any other way. But I’m a different generation and this must sound like madness to a teenager who has been brought up in the digital age of  iTunes and Pirate Bay.

Following the well publicised court case and gaoling of the owners of Pirate Bay the supporters of the website set up a policital arm and succeeded  in securing 7% of Sweden’s votes during the recent European elections. This looks like having widespread political ramifications with other national pirate parties spreading around Europe. This week we have heard about the Irish branch that has been set up, the Pirate Party Ireland, which is planning to run a candidate in the Donegal south-west by-election. This was covered in yesterday’s Sunday Times, the article of which I have pasted in below.

The music and film industry have been grappling with the problem of piracy for decades (remember the ‘Home Taping is Killing Music’ logo of the 1980s when the music industry feared cassette tapes were going to bring the industry to its knees) but, in recent years, as this battle has moved on-line, they have resorted to legal means and put pressure on ISPs in order to try and stem what is becomg and tidal wave of popularity.

It is the inability of the entertainment industry to deal with the issue of piracy, and accept that it is inevitability, that is fuelling movements like this. With the launch of Spotiy it seems that technology is moving towards paid for streaming type of service, which could just as easily be applied to films. This is one answer but we have yet to see a solution for the film industry other than going back to tried and tested formats, such as 3D, which people won’t be able to watch home – well until the soon approacing 3D TVs become widespread.

With the policital arm of the pirate movement aiming to gain policitical as a balance to the music industry’s strong arm tactics it will not be long before the mainstream political parties have to take notice and get up to speed with the technological developments that are driving this movement.

Pirate Party Ireland needs 300 people to sign up before it can be confirmed as an official political party. They can be contacted through  http://piratepartyireland.com/cms/contact and are also on Twitter as @piratepartie. Join now and make a difference.

By Mark Tighe

A group of politicised music lovers is planning to run a candidate in the Donegal south-west by-election under the banner of the Pirate Party Ireland.

The tech-savy youngsters want to emulate the success of the Swedish Pirate Party, which had one of its members elected to the European Parliament last June, securing 7% of the national vote in Sweden’s European election. Pirate parties have since sprung up around the world to legalise the not-for-profit sharing of music. The Pirate Party UK was confirmed as an official political party last week.

So far the Irish group has fewer than 100 members. It needs to sign up 300 people before it can be given official national status alongside the 19 parties registered for general or local elections with the clerk of the Dáil.

Some of the more obscure parties on the register for local elections include the Letterkenny Residents Party and the Workers and Unemployed Action Group (South Tipperary).

“There is a lot of interest in the party and its stance so we’re confidant we’ll get 300 members,” said Thomas Burke, one of the group’s founders. Burke, a 23-year-old IT student from Longford, said the Pirate Party would field a candidate in the Donegal by-election if it were able to register as a party before the writ is moved.

“We want to put candidates up for a general election but first we have to nail down a basic constitution,” said Burke.

“Our support comes from a younger crowd. They are tech-savy people with a love of music so anyone can relate to what we stand for.”

Despite record industry claims that illegal downloads cost it millions each year, Dick Doyle, the director general of the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), wished the party well, but added: “I don’t think there will be a worldwide momentum to change the protections for all artists from books to TV and music.”