Pirates Gather at First International Pirate Party Conference
The citizens of Vienna will be locking up their wenches, and breaking out the grog this weekend, as representatives of Pirate Parties from all over Europe descend upon Austria’s capital. The reason , the first ever International Pirate Party Conference.
The aim of the event is to help form a collaborative alliance between the various parties in Europe and beyond. In addition, a public discussion on the Sunday evening will talk about the future plans including running for the European Parliament in 2009
“We’re striving to do what’s necessary,” states Florian Hufsky, head of Austrian Pirate Party. “To preserve the right to privacy, to communicate without eavesdropping. The right to remix, share, create and participate in culture and innovation.”
The conference will feature Eva Lichtenberger, a member on the European Parliament, and Rasmus Fleischer from the Swedish bureau of Piracy Piratbyrån. In addition, both Adrian Dabrowski, head of the civil liberties group Quintessenz, and quaffler developer Clifford Wolf will be speaking.
So, instead of pillaging and raping, the delegates will be discussing politics and intellectual property rights, as well as organizational matters and international communication.
With the average age somewhere in the twenties, it’s also fairly safe to say there will be a fair bit of partying going on, although it’s more likely to be of the beer and pool sort, than the vodka-and-coke fueled orgies that other twenty-somethings sometimes participate in.
