Vermonster 1, Monster 0

Yes, we won. The grassroots effort to block Monster Energy Drink's legal thuggery and trademark beatdown on the small Vermont microbrew makers of the Vermonster has taken the day. For those not up to date, the corporate powerhouse Monster Energy Drink, member of the pissed off patent posse, the Hansen Drink Company, tried to muscle the tiny Rock Art Brewery out of business because they dared to mention two syllables of the Monster Energy Drink in their beer's name (the Vermonster, which, by the way, was in business BEFORE Monster). One sympathetic 6-minute documentary and a bunch of viral support later, Monster backs down. Your support counted!

Techdirt has a nice writeup about how the fight has only just begun against the legal thuggery of Hansen Drink Company.

Plus, check out the Rock Art Brewery site for what should be some well deserved victory laps.

And for the entire, lip smacking timeline of events check out this link!

Boycotts work! Raising a fuss makes a difference! Good job, people!

EU Parliament Chokes on Online Freedom Bill? Surprise, Surprise!

In the interests of political expediency, the European Parliament recently snuffed one critical amendment, in a larger piece of legislation, which would have made a firm stand for the rights of citizens in the online world. Amendment 138 had previously enjoyed solid support from the governing body. But the lead rapporteur (essentially, chief policy wonk) Catherine Trautmann, unceremoniously scuttled the amendment when it appeared it might stand in the way of the smooth passage of the Telecoms Package. Check out a more complete story here.

Chalk this one up to the growing pains of the European Union, a political body with a normally high standard and good track record when it comes to protecting individual liberties. Hopefully the sinking of amendment 138 does not signal a reverse trend of caving into corporate interests at the expense of the freedoms enjoyed by the average citizen.

The USPP is not the PPP is not the PPUS

In case there was any confusion (and if you've been reading USPP posts instead of skimming them, there's not) the US Pirate Party is not the Pirate Political Party (PPP), nor is it the Pirate Party of the United States (PPUS). The USPP recognizes the right of alternate Pirate parties to exist. It's especially important to have a decentralized network of Pirates when one of the Pirate parties does something crazy (like endorse a homophobe, card-carrying Libertarian). If one head of the Pirate hydra goes down (or sells out), another can take its place. It works for file sharing sites, and it works for political parties. For those interested, the links to these other parties are, and have always been, listed along the margin of this blog under "Pirate Links." Or you can click below.

Here's the PPP:

Here's the PPUS:

The USPP is moving away visually from the "P" design, which is really the sign for the European Pirate movement, and replacing it with our beloved eagle. That being said, the USPP was founded by disaffected, former PPUS members, and the USPP and PPUS both benefit from the volunteer work of a single web designer, so you may see the occasional "P" pop up now and then (see Myspace), but they are on their way out. So these three make up all the American Pirate parties to our knowledge. If anyone digs up any new American pirates, send us the link and we'll add them to the list!

All clear?

USPP Myspace Now Up and Running

The major impetus and motivation behind sharing music files, from a band's perspective, is to promote their music. Release a few tracks here and there and let the music speak for itself. If it's good, your average Joe is going to come back with wallet in hand to buy the whole album, the special editions, the merchandise, and the concert tickets. Bands today understand that auxiliary streams of revenue are making up a larger and larger chunk of the successful artist's income. And bands aren't just cashing in from the fans- nowadays more and more indie bands are selling their music directly to TV shows, film scores, and advertisements, all without having to give the suits a cut. But don't tell the major labels! The corporate executives are still living in an analog world, while the rest of us have gone digital. The major labels still believe they are still the sole means for artists to attain their livelihood, that artists are dependent on their goodwill, and so they tend to treat their signed artists like a racehorse owner treats his stable of prized fillies. The labels love their artists, but the artists had better race between the lines and win every time, otherwise they are going to be taken out back and shot.

Musicians have grown understandably weary of this exploitative economic model. Happily, digital technology and the growth of the internet provides artists with evermore opportunities to ply their craft outside the clammy grip of the corporate labels. The USPP wants to do its part to help musicians in this new techno-economic environment, which is why we've launched USPP Myspace. We're going to showcase quality independent artist on rotating basis and give you the low down on the artist's albums, tour, and any available downloads! So check out USPP Myspace and support independent music.

Special thanks goes to Emile Goss for coding our gorgeous, ad-free Myspace profile. You can check out more of his work at http://killbot.org/!

Podcast: RIAA/Pirate Party Reach Consensus and Pigs Fly

The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), one of the most cartoonishly virulent anti-pirate organizations in America, couldn't possibly find a common ground of agreement with the Pirate Party, could they? Afterall, the RIAA were the masterminds behind some of the most bullheaded, shortsighted lawsuits against individual Americans that have been seen in the Copyright Wars so far. Jammie Thomas (now Thomas-Rasset) ended up losing a courtcase to the RIAA over the small matter of sharing 24 songs via Kazaa. The mother of four was ordered to pay a whopping $1.92 million in "damages" for partaking of those two dozen songs. Joel Tenenbaum faced off with the RIAA over a handful of songs, lost his fight, and was hit with a $675,000 penalty. The RIAA says its taking a principled, no nonsense stand against criminals- the Pirate Party says they're just alienating their customer base by punishing them for using everyday technology to enjoy music. Both the music fan and the music industry would be better served if the RIAA pulled its head out of the sand and figured out what business models work in the current techno-economic landscape.

So what would the Pirate Party have in common with a bully like the RIAA? Well, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) did a little piece on Orphan Works legislation that is a bit of copyright reform that everyone can agree on. What's an "orphan work"? An orphan work is material which is subject to copyright rules but for which the holder of the copyright can no longer be located. There's more of this orphaned work floating around than you might imagine; and the conundrum for individuals and organizations that would like to reuse and recycle this material is whether this can be safely done, or whether the copyright holder is going to come out of the woodwork years later and claim damages. What the Orphan Works legislation aims to do is come up with legal guidelines which everyone can play by in order to release quality pictures, photos, all sorts of creative materials, back into the public domain, while still performing the due diligence to preserve the rights and privilege of authorship. It's common sense legislation that's win-win for authors and the public alike.

This podcast summarizes the work done on the legislation as of 2008. Updates indicate that the Orphan Works bill is currently being held up in Washington gridlock. But with such a broad coalition of support undergirding the bill, passage seems like a no brainer. Washington couldn't possibly screw this one up, could they? If anyone has new info on this, comment below!

Shepard Fairey Remixes Creative Commons

Just a quick note on our friends at Creative Commons. They've recruited one of the hottest artists in America, Shepard Fairey, to do a gorgeous little rendition of their logo (at left). Those who have been following the evolution of Fairey from guerilla street tagger to blue chip American artist will be especially pleased to see how the artist has not forgotten his roots. He's a not quite domesticated artist (recently arrested at his own art opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston) who can appreciate the sometimes provocative legality of the copyleft. Naturally, Creative Commons wants to cash in and get some solid donations out of the project. The logo has been plastered on a t-shirt and is available here, along with some other cool schwag, for a contribution to a good cause. So, OBEY, and check it out, or else Andre the Giant will excommunicate you from his posse.

Monster Boycott

Here's the old story of David vs. Goliath dressed up in the contemporary garb of a trademark bully beatdown. The Mom and Pop brewers behind the Vermonster, a righteous New England microbrew, have seen their business grow from a twinkle in an entrepeneur's eye to a full-fledged, successful small business through 12 years of toil and sweat. Its the dream of many Americans to own their own business and for the makers of the Vermonster their dream had come true....

...Until the corporate scallywags behind the Monster Energy drink came along and paid a fleet of high-priced lawyers to conjure up some legal sleight of hand with trademark law in order to retroactively determine that the tiny microbrewery was infringing upon the financial livelihood of a multimillion (billion?) dollar corporation. It seems that with enough money you can put anyone out of business with the irresponsible use of poorly written trademark law. And what small business has the money to fend off even the most frivolous of lawsuits when the litigant has bottomless pockets?

Check out the Youtube link for the whole scoop. And, if you can manage to skip your Monster Energy drink fix, vote with your wallet and boycott Monster products. Tweet your displeasure to @MonsterEnergy. Help David whoop a monstrous Goliath! For more info check out the Rock Art brewery website.

Rival Pirate Party (PPUS) Endorses Homophobe

The PPUS has just endorsed a candidate who "opposes gay sex" but, if you're really nice, he'll let homosexual partners enjoy the same rights as a "real" heterosexual married couple. That's just part of his live and let live attitude as a devout christian. By the way, did we mention he hates immigrants too?

Is this the part where the wackjob christian fundamentalists hijack the Pirate Party? Not if the USPP has anything to say about it. Freedom, EQUALITY, and innovation is our platform. Check out the article below and revel in all of Stephen Collings' nuanced bigotry!

The Pirate Party prepares a raid on Capitol Hill (from a '92 Buick) -- DailyFinance

If you want the Pirate Party to be hate-free, drop the PPUS a line at their Twitter, @USPirates, or email ryan.martin@pirate-party.us

1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right in Finland

Holy Schmoly! Broadband access is a right! Now how about not throwing us in jail when we use our broadband access? Check out the link:

1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right

Michael S. Sawyer on user-generated content, fair use, and the DMCA

The USPP was just contacted by the web site Surprisingly Free, an information technology thinktank at GMU. Here's a little blurb:

"Surprisingly Free is the online home of the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The Program works within the university setting to improve the state of knowledge and debate about the regulation of the Internet and high technology. It does this through rigorous economic and legal research, academic conferences, and outreach to policy makers."

Besides the usual academic hustle and bustle, they also offer podcasts on Pirate issues (delivered with a pleasantly sedate NPR vibe). Check out this recent podcast about the problems and potential of user-generated content, on Youtube and elsewhere. Arghhh!

Surprisingly Free podcast, 10/13/09:

Michael S. Sawyer on user-generated content, fair use, and the DMCA

The USPP Gets into the Twibbon Game

Go here to show some USPP love on your twitter account and your pic could somewhat resemble this handsome looking gentleman at the right!

USPP Rolls Out Myspace Site

One of the hallmark absurdities of the Copyright Wars has been the claims by major corporate record labels that your average file sharing Joe exploits musicians and has been responsible for the "death of the music industry." Of course, what the music executives call the "death of an industry" is really just the end of their fat paydays at the expense of the musicians they claim to promote. Historically, there has been no worse exploiter of musicians in the modern era than the corporations who claim to represent their interests. We've all seen the VH1 Behind the Music specials filled with stories of bands being tossed into the pop culture meat grinder, overexposed, underinformed, pressured to sign away ownership of their music. The misery of the corporate music grist mill makes for good punchlines and a sexy nihilistic, "have a good time all the time" vibe. But the reality isn't quite so pretty. At the end of the day, you've got a burnt out, played out, broke, pop culture cast off, instead of an artist.

But the times and technology has changed- and the Pirate Party wants to help! The emergence of net culture, social networks, and affordable (or free) high quality production software have created the perfect storm to wrest creative control and financial mastery of the music industry out of the hands of corporate executives, and to return that power back into the hands of artists. The USPP wants to play a small part to help musicians adapt to this new technological and financial reality. So we're putting together a little Myspace profile to help promote artists on a rotating basis through all our Pirate media outlets. Shows, albums, festivals, whatever! The USPP wants to be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem (RIAA)!

Here's a blurb from the Myspace wall below. We're still shaping the site, so expect it to be a work in progress. You can find the link in the "Pirate Links" list. Suggestions welcome!

"The United States Pirate Party loves music! We seek to promote independent musicians through different and creative alternatives to the traditional model of exploitation at the hands of corporate labels. Through a synergy of politics and art, the USPP wants to fill seats, sell tickets, and get the party started! If you're a band that wants their music featured on Pirate media outlets, drop us a line! Arghhhh! The United States Pirate Party loves music! We seek to promote independent musicians through different and creative alternatives to the traditional model of exploitation at the hands of corporate labels. Through a synergy of politics and art, the USPP wants to fill seats, sell tickets, and get the party started! If you're a band that wants their music featured on Pirate media outlets, drop us a line! Arghhhh"

Search for Aliens with the Pirate Party!

The USPP has just launched its own BOINC/SETI search team under the name "United States Pirate Party." If you're not familiar with BOINC, its a project that basically collects volunteered CPU power and uses it to crunch numbers in the name of science. There are a lot of really cool endeavors that depend on crowd-sourced computing power, but what's cooler than searching for aliens? Check out the Seti@home site for instructions on how to download the BOINC software. It's quick, easy, and runs quietly in the background without slowing your computer. Plus, there are some pretty awesome graphic displays that show the search in progress. You could be the first person to discover alien life!


And don't forget to join the United States Pirate Party team!