Pirate News Top Three 23/04/2013

Worried About Accidental Illegal Filesharing? Get Insurance.

The Local has reported that the Swedish Pirate Party has unveiled a “File-Sharer Fine" Insurance, which will pay out on any fines a person receives as a result of file-sharing. The argument goes that it can be difficult to know what is legal to download and what isn’t, as a result of poor copyright policy as well as contradicting laws in different countries (e.g. regarding mp3/mpg licences). The idea comes from planka.nu, a similar scheme in which people can insure against getting caught without a ticket on the Stockholm Metro system. It would be interesting to see what the premiums would be like and how they are calculated.

Full Article At The Local: Pirate Party launches file-sharer fine insurance

 

International Pirate Parties Compared

With the ever-growing Pirate Movement straddled across many continents and very largely influenced by their respective memberships (and rightly so), The Pirate Times has started working on a table which compares the policies that national Pirate Parties have decided to campaign or have a policy on, although at the moment it is very general. Interesting points include the focus on Church-State Separation in a number of Eastern European states, as well as the obvious near-unanimous agreement on policies such as Patent Reform, Privacy and Net Neutrality.

Full Article Available At The Pirate Times: The Pirate Times Pirate Party Policy Comparison Table

 

Cameron To Opt-Out of EU Social Media Policy?

It seems popular right now to slag off anything that comes from the EU; the apparently undemocratic institution we elect MEPs to every year is a force of evil, makes it illegal for us to call ourselves British anymore, etc. etc. Although this might win votes, it seems the current government is taking the very position it criticises the Labour Party of doing; namely opposition for the sake of opposition. David Cameron seems to be intent on opting-out of EU legislation that would mean companies such as Google and Facebook are required to remove all of your data if you request it. I’ll leave the question open as to whether this seems a good idea or not.

Full Article At Pirate Party UK Blog: Opinion: Cameron Wants to Forget The Right to be Forgotten

Hands off my phone!

The old technologies were always the best.
Photo by @mararie on Flickr

I believe my mobile has managed to make everything humanly possible to make life more difficult. The instant access to communication isn't always the best thing to have in a heated argument; I believe in arguments letters really were the better way to handle things, as you had at least one day between them to think things over and decide whether some things really are worth arguing over. In return the expectation from other users that one should be "always connected" is also rather frustrating.

One of the worst sins of mobile telecommunications, however, lie in the ease of procrastination. If it wasn't bad enough sitting in front of a blank essay whilst having 300 tabs open in Firefox about the philosophy of Bostrom's simulation argument of life, now I can also sync these tabs to my mobile so I can continue reading whilst I'm away at the expense of finding a loved one's Christmas present.

There is one area where my phone has helped immensely, however; an area that to be honest makes everything else in life work like clockwork. And that would be my calendar. Without it and the ability to sync it online everywhere, I would forget even about doctor's appointments I'd only booked hours ago, let alone important birthdays or anniversary's. And for that alone, the other sins of Web 2.0 can be forgiven.