IRC meeting moving to Thursday this week

Publiced at December 26, 2011

We are moving the IRC meeting to this Thursday, December 29th.  It will still be at 9:30pm.  Talk with you then!

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Tell the House: Don’t Censor the Net!

Publiced at December 14, 2011

The House of Representatives will start considering changes to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) on Thursday.and may vote to approve it soon after.  Like the Senate bills, PIPA and CSFA, SOPA would create a variety of ways for corporations and the US government to censor the Internet. We released our SOPA Information Packet for House Members today. Please spread word about it and, if possible, get it to your Representative. We urge you to call your Representative and tell them to oppose SOPA and Net Censorship. Fight for the Future has a convenient web form that will give you talking points and will connect you to your Representative. Thanks to Everyone who Attended the Rally! Thanks for all the help people gave to make our rally a success. We told many people about the harm that PIPA, CFSA and SOPA would have and were able to present our information packet to the staff of Senators Brown and Kerry. We got some press for our recent efforts: Weekly Dig: The Internet As We Know It: SOPA AND PIPA BostInno: Open Letter: Don’t Let Congress Break the Internet Examiner.com: Massachusetts Pirate Party to hold Rally in defense of internet freedom

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Pirate Party Holds Rally to tell Senators Brown and Kerry: Don’t Censor the Net!

Publiced at December 6, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact: James O’Keefe, 617-447-0210 PIRATE PARTY HOLDS RALLY TO TELL SENATORS BROWN AND KERRY: DON’T CENSOR THE NET! Boston, MA, December 6th, 2011 – At noon today, supporters of Internet freedom will tell Senators Brown and Kerry to stand up for keeping the Internet a free speech zone. The rally will be in front of the JFK Federal Building next to Boston City Hall Plaza. The PROTECT Intellectual Property Act (PIPA or “PROTECT IP,” S.968) and its companion bill, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act (CFSA, S.978) would fundamentally challenge our cherished right of free speech and allow not only the Federal Government, but even individuals to censor the Internet. “PIPA would permit the government to censor a website by cutting off funding to the site, requiring search engines to de-list the site, and requiring advertisers to withdraw their ads from the site and block that site’s ads. It would also require that Domain Name System (DNS) operators stop directing Internet users to the accused website. The US is emulating the Great Firewall of China and will harm the free speech rights of all Americans”, said James O’Keefe, Captain of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. Said lawyer and Pirate Party member Chris Walsh: “Under CFSA simply clicking a ‘share’ button or uploading a video of yourself singing a copyrighted song could lead to a sentence comparable with armed robbery, involuntary manslaughter, or assault and battery with a deadly weapon. CFSA would criminalize nearly everyone under the age of thirty.” These bills would place a huge burden on search engines, payment processors, and advertisers. Not only is an entire website put at risk for containing infringing content, but new burdens and liabilities are imposed on entities that have nothing to do with the infringement, and may not … Read more →

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RELEASED: Dec. 6th Rally Posters

Publiced at December 1, 2011

Through the effort of Jeanne, Clay and Henry, we have the following posters ready for you to download and put up in your community. An hour with a bunch of these, a staple gun or clear plastic packing tape will go a long way towards getting the word out about our rally against censoring the Internet. Thanks!     The last two posters are different sizes. The first is 8 1/2 x 11 inches. The second is 13 x 17 inches.

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RELEASED: Information Packet for Senators Regarding PIPA and CFSA

Publiced at December 1, 2011

We just released our Information Packet for Senators Regarding PIPA and CFSA, two bills before the US Senate that would censor the Internet. We will be dropping these documents off to Senators Brown and Kerry at our Rally to Stop Congress’ Attempts to Censoring the Internet on December 6th. Please feel free to offer any suggestions for improving this document and spread word about the rally to the four winds. Thanks!

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Save the month: Pirate Conference – February 2012

Publiced at December 1, 2011

We will hold our first Pirate Conference in February 2012. It will be in the Boston area and will probably be the first or second Saturday of February. We are working on a site, exact date and conference schedule. If you can help, please contact us at info@masspirates.org. Thanks!

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