Digital Trends
First it was Sweden, where the Pirate Party, a political party that advocates file-sharing and was inspired by Pirate Bay, won a seat in the European Parliament. Then came Germany, and now it’s in the UK.
It’s been approved to stand by the Electoral Commission, which means it can now contest seats.
On its official blog, the party says:
"Enthusiastic support for the party has, up to now, sometimes blinded us to the fundamental truth: there was no party."
Last month, Apple warned owners that it does not test iTunes’ ability to sync with third party media players, and that the capability could break at any time. For Palm Pre owners, that day has come: iTunes 8.2.1 no longer treats the Pre as if it were just another iPod, and the software will no longer synchronize media with the device.
There are now pirates in the European Parliament. Or, to be precise, one of them, as Sweden’s Pirate Party captured 7.1% of the vote in their homeland to win a seat in the European Parliament.
The party, which wants reform of copyright and patent law, saw its profile greatly raised by the recent trial and conviction of the four people behind file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, which party leader Rickard Falkvinge said played a large role in getting them elected.
"The establishment is trying to prevent control of knowledge and culture slipping from their grasp,” he told the BBC.
The Pirate Party is almost certainly the first political party inspired by a file-sharing site–in this case the controversial Pirate Bay. It’s become quite a political force in Sweden, racking up 8% support in the polls, according to the Times. That makes it the country’s third-largest political party, and suggest it will win a number of seats in the upcoming elections for the European parliament.
Party leader Rick Falk Vinge has said:
“Our politicians are digital illiterates. We need politicians that will not let themselves be bullied by foreign powers. To vote in the EU elections is more important than ever before.”
At the Tokyo Game Show 2008 this week, Microsoft officially lifted the veil on its New Xbox Experience, a new version of the Xbox 360 Dashboard that integrates social features—like a “Live Party” amongst up to eight friends and customizable gamer avatars—along with community-developed games. And the update will be free to Xbox 360 owners beginning November 19.
“Our industry is defining the future of entertainment,” said Microsoft’s John Schappert, in a statement. “When the New Xbox Experience launches in just six weeks, we will be inviting the whole world to play.”
Two major British companies have pulled their advertising from Facebook after their ads appeared randomly on a page from the right-wing British Nationalist Party. Both Vodafone and First Direct took the step afterthey were alerted to the fact that a rotation system put their ads up on the BNP’s page. Vodafone said it had bought bundles of ads for its mobile phone service in a booking involving Facebookand other sites. That meant they had no control over where the ads went. “As a result we were not aware that a Vodafone advertisement would appear next to a British National party groupon Facebook,” said a Vodafone spokesperson. “Our public policy principles state that we do not make political donations or support particular party political interests and therefore toavoid misunderstandings we immediately withdrew our advertising as soon as this was brought to our attention.” First Direct expressed similar reservations. Vodafone said it wouldplace ads with Facebook in the future, but only when “more robust controls” were in place as to where ads would appear. The British Nationalist Party has a reputation forxenophobic and violent behaviour. However, party spokesman Phil Edwards claimed, “There is no reason at all why anyone should avoid the BNP. There’s nothing wrong with the BNP.Unfortunately the media have created a bogeyman and really the fault lies with the media, who for some reason have vilified the BNP, and it has scared these people off.”
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