American “Pirates” versus Large Corporations and State Agencies

430
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2016-60-10-73-82

T. Rovinskaya, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation (mirtania@gmail.com

Abstract. The article presents the second part of the research on the American Pirate Parties political practice. It deals with political activity of the United States Pirate Party and Pirate Parties of particular states, focused on preservation of the basic democratic values (liberty of speech and free information exchange, personal privacy, government transparency and responsibility) in the following forms: protest actions against national legislation and international agreements violating civil rights; promotion of laws protecting civil rights in the digital space; creation of alternative computer networks independent from state agencies and large corporations. By contrast with European Pirate Parties which have managed to achieve a significant presence in local, national and regional legislative bodies (including the European Parliament) within the decade from 2006 till today, the American "pirates" have failed to obtain an official registration at the national level during the same period of time, and have only had temporary or local success. This is accounted for far more complicated political conditions of their efforts to overcome much stronger economic lobbies and a political bias in the government. American Pirate Parties in association with civil rights organizations and IT-companies are permanently fighting consecutive bills (COICA, PIPA, SOPA, CISPA, CISA) attempting to restrict civil rights of Internet users in favor of copyright holders and information market lobbies, which leads to legalization of state censorship and surveillance. Moreover, there are state surveillance programs like PRISM and international agreements (ACTA, TPP) secretly brought into action, which also pose a challenge to civil rights and democratic values protection. As long as these threats exist, a necessity to restore social justice will continue to persist, especially in the information field, where the freedom of Internet serves as a crucial indicator for democracy itself.

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Keywords: globalization, United States Pirate Party, international Pirate Party Movement, freedom of speech and information exchange, personal privacy, government transparency, protest campaigns, ACTA, COICA, PIPA, SOPA, OPEN, PRISM, CISPA, CISA, TPP 


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For citation:
Rovinskaya T. American “Pirates” versus Large Corporations and State Agencies. World Eñonomy and International Relations, 2016, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. 73-82. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2016-60-10-73-82



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