Taiwan Denies Use Of 'Pirate Party' Name Because People Might Think They're Actual Sea-Faring Pirates
from the aaaaargh dept
Last year, we wrote about how the Russian Pirate Party was refused recognition because officials there didn't like the name, stating that it "is an attack on sea or river craft, which is a criminal offense." Apparently, something similar has happened in Taiwan, where someone who sought to establish the Taiwanese Pirate Party has been denied, after being told that it is "improper" because of "bad connotations" with the word "piracy." So much for "taking back" the word. The guy, Tai Cheh actually fought this decision in court... and has still lost. According to TorrentFreak:Are they really concerned that the party will advocate sea-faring piracy?In its ruling, the High Administrative Court agreed with the Ministry of the Interior’s stance that the use of the word ‘Pirate’ did not accurately describe the true aims of the Party.
The MOI said that the term “pirate” could mislead members of the public into voting for people they believed to be real, sea-based pirates. The country’s Criminal Code outlaws acts of piracy, the MOI added.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: pirate party, russia, tai cheh, taiwan
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
which is worse?
Are they really concerned that the party will advocate sea-faring piracy?"
Are they really concerned that the public would choose to vote for real pirates?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: which is worse?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: which is worse?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: which is worse?
It's like a nautical Streisand Effect. The Sparrow Effect?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: which is worse?
YOU ARE A PIRATE!
Yar har, fiddle di dee,
Being a pirate is alright to be,
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
But is it bad that I *still* think this is hilarious
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
those are the Best things.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
A pirate is exactly what the Taiwanese are claiming here: a nautical terrorist, of the kind frequently found these days off the shores of Somalia. The term "piracy" as applied to intellectual property is a rhetorical device used to make file-sharing seem a lot worse than it actually is. The name "Pirate Party" is highly unfortunate, IMO, as it legitimizes the smear instead of trying to fix it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What about Kopimi Party?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.meograph.com/demo
Disclosure: No I have nothing to do with meograph or kittygraph or whatever that is, I just found out about it and am using it to illustrate what an animated timeline of events about copyright BS could look like, maybe make a graph of the end of free markets and the rise of granted monopolies that are creeping up everywhere like cancer cells metastasizing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
A: Change their name
B: Allow parties more freedom to choose their own names.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
You claim that they need to allow the parties more freedom to choose their own name, but do you even know what it is like for the Taiwanese?
They have learned to be very careful about what is allowed in public areas because of the relationship balance between not only the Island of Taiwan and their neighboring country China, but with the rest of the world who helps prevent Taiwan from being taken over by force by China.
If you claim that this is not a legitimate concern, there is even a law in Beijing that can be found here that pretty much states if Taiwan politically declares its independence, then China has the authority to go to war (Keep in mind, this is a China law).
Bearing these types of situations in mind, you might actually begin to understand why Taiwan is VERY careful of any political issues, including party names.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Silly but...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Silly but...
Your name, tech in a box also seems like it could say "t[h]e China Box".
Ironic given the topic of the story.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Show me a politician who hasn't taken your money, and I'll show you a real Nigerian prince, who also happens to be a leprechaun doing a moonwalk while riding a unicorn on the surface of the sun.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RE:
I agree with 'M' above, 'Internet Party' makes far more sense. Ultimately these types of parties are about internet freedom in general, not just "download a bunch of movies from TPB", so it's time the movements matured a bit.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Please, go on and tell me how a Typical Asian would act.
I am waiting for your stereotypes to start coming out so I can refute each one. Given that some people in Taiwan tried starting this party, and others said it was not allowed, I don't see a uniform behavior that can be called
Typical.
Or are you saying that they feel they should have a say in how their government, made up of Asians, can govern their Asian country?
I will be waiting for your in-depth knowledge of how "Asians" are all single dimensional.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Unintended consequences
Branding the citizens that participate in a culture of filesharing as 'pirates' might be grounds for a defamation lawsuit in Taiwan, it seems...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pay Attention To
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anyone could do a better job then the current guys, especially a group of outsider sea faring pirates.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Me thinks they dost protest too much
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Protest
[ link to this | view in chronology ]