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PPI General Assembly DEC 2023 - PPI (pp-international.net)

The official minutes for the PPI General Assembly of December 9th, 2023

---09.12.2023 12:00 UTC ---

  • Mumble: mumble.ppi.rocks
  • Audio recording: PiratesOnAir Streaming, recording
https://owncloud.ag-technik.de/s/D2TWSHaSGRXGJdgW
Video: http://Piratesonair.media

Record of the meeting

1 - ATTENDEES

1.1 - Ordinary Members of PPI

Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - Mauricio Vargas
Czech Pirate Party - Mike Gill, Raman Ojha
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France - Florie Marie
Pirate Party Germany - Dichter, TygBY, Tastenquaeler
Pirate Party of Greece - Thanasis Chantzios
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - piratim (Noam), Keith
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - Jo
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - Alexander Isavnin, Sergey Surovcev, Nikolay Voronov
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party of Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) -
Pirate Party - Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) - Rudolf
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - v-USPP, Ben Horlick
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
Total Voting Power of the GA is 9 out of 27. Power needed for establishing the quorum is 9.


1.2 - Observer Members

Internet Party of Serbia
Pirates without Borders - Thomas Gaul, Treasurer
Pirate Lobby, France
Pirate Party of Berlin (Piratenpartei Berlin)
Pirate Party of Bavaria
Pirate Party of Hesse
Pirate Party of La Rioja (Spain)
Pirate Party of Lower Saxony -
Pirate Party of New York
Pirate Party of North Rhine-Westfalia
Pirate Party Potsdam (present - Sebastian Krone, Chair)
Europe beyond division e.V. Formerly: Young Pirates of Germany
Young Pirates Sweden (Ung Pirat)
Pirate Party of Japan [1] (old)
Brandenburg
Pirati
Pirate Party of Finland
European Pirate Party
The Pirates Center of Belarus
Pirate Party of Japan (new)
Pirate Party of Slovenia
Pirate Party of Spain
Pirate Party Romania
Pirate Party of Latvia:

1.3 - Guests Participating

1.4 - Proceedings

RoP: https://wiki.pp-international.net/wiki/index.php?title=Rules_of_procedure
GA opened at 12:18 UTC by Florie
Meeting chaired by Florie till 12:28 UTC, Gregory after
Remark: Florie stepped down as Chairperson of PPI at 13:28 and left the Board.
Secretary for this meeting is Keith and ??? (please help)
Streaming started: https://piratesonair.net/live-stream/Recording and [1]

Proposed Agenda

Time is in UTC
12:00: Delegates accreditation
13:00: Opening of the General Assembly
13:05: Keynote Speech of Rick Falvinge
13:30: Formalities–Meeting chair, secretary, acceptance of agenda
14:00: Reports–Board, Treasurer, CoA, Lay Auditors
14:30: Budget proposal
15:00: Break
15:30: New Member Applications: PPAU and PPUK
16:00: Election of New Board Members
17:00: Motions Part 1
18:00: Break
18:15 Motions Part 2
19:00: Any Other Business
20:00: End of GA
  • Day 2 will be scheduled if necessary
  • Are there any objections or suggested amendments to the agenda?


Florie gives a speech in which she indicates that she does not want to continue as chair of PPI.

text version of speech: https://floriemarie.fr/index.php/2023/12/09/discours-ma-demission-de-la-presidence-du-parti-pirate-international-my-resign-of-the-presidency-of-the-international-pirate-parties/

Gregory thanks her and accepts meeting chair.
Gregory: The words that I wanted to hear are that the GA is open and we have quorum. We invited Rick Falvinge.

Keynote Speech

Rick Falvinge: It is great to speak to everybody. That was an interesting opening to a meeting.
Thank you so much for the floor and the honor of attending the meeting and having a chat. It is a bit fascinating to come back to PPI after 16 years since we first met in Vienna, having arranged a physically meeting there by Leo Findaizen?
In enough places it is very encouraging. I understand last time we had Ivan Bartos from the Cech Party. He was one of the key people in 2007, the first meeting in Vienna. I think it is conceivable that the Czech party will nominate the leader for the digital market in the European commission. I'm not here to do nostalgia to observe something I have learned since the Swedish party, that is generational shifts. One thing that I 've learned to pay attention is that if you stay the same group or if new people are coming, then it is basically essential to maintaining a movement. This becomes a measure of success probabilities. If you stay the same group, if there are not a continuous stream of newcomers, some who leave, but you are radically increasing your chances of success. The easiest way I see to do this is to have fun, and who have fun in public. People see you have fun. If they see you not having fun, then they will avoid you. So how do you have fun? In the dotcom era, we had fun... so how do you have fun. It is up to you, and it is up to a local party. I would also like to point out the essence of continuity. Too often the people who have been are those who hold out. The country is run by those who show up. I find this to be true in the big and the small. On the observation bit, we started on a policy of shared information, opposition to patent infringement. While torrenting isn't nearly as big as it was in 2005,6,7, streaming is big now, so on the one hand everyone is doing it, and on the other no one needs to. The world has moved into other conflicts, other places of aggression. We are seeing a class of values, a class of cultures, in Ukraine, in Israel, you see this that the values that we took for granted are not as universal as we once thought or once imagined. There might be a difference here between why these values came into being. Do we have any comments or general reflections. I would like to have an informal chat here.
Doese it ever feel strange the movement you started?
I feel that no one can stop an idea that comes or formed. When I started the movement, it just happened to be me that started the webpage, someone else would have done it. I had the luck to be skilled at management, but it was just a matter of time before someone with those skills came along. I wasn't someone exceptional, just a product of my time.
Noam: the issue of having fun I agree with. The pirates in Israel we have maintained the image of having fun and we are known as being the fun party, but we are not taken seriously. We have a lot of serious issues to address. What are your thoughts about having fun and being taken seriously?
Rick: There are two aspects of this. Israel in particular is where they vote according to Maslow's pyramid of needs, where they will vote based on safety, improvement... There are challenges in this area that we didn't have to deal with in Sweden. However, about not being taken seriously, is a problem that all new parties had. We weren't taken seriously until we were. You can't ask for validation from your opponents. There is no one right way. We appealed to a new group of voters who weren't interested in what the old parties had to say. You won't be taken seriously until you win votes.
Noam: Unfortunately our crowd is often those who don't vote. At least we get a spotlight.
Rick: That is an opportunity with the media outlet.
Noam: Most of the Israeli public is sick of the old politics, and I hope that we will have new elections soon.
Bastian: Hi all here who are listening. I think you are the fun of the whole Pirate movement. A while ago I listened to you in 2006, and now we are in different times. We have big disruptions in the global futures. Everything is not as before. Ukraine is one thing. Israel is one thing. We have this big development with AI. We are exploding. We need a guideline of what we can do in this world. What can we do in the next office term?
Rick: The challenge as I see it is... you are correct that the world is changing. It is not good or bad, you must just relate to it. On one hand you have the clashes of culture, the clashes of violence that erupt and I believe will continue to erupt. We are seeing in Venezuela as well. The Pax Americana where peace was ensured by those with more guns. But when that crumbles warlords take over. As I mentioned with Maslow's needs, they will go for safety, roofs over their head, and so on. There is an unbelievable onslaught. I am talking about Johansen's>? fight against private communications under the pretense of stopping child pornography. However we said no to this. You don't protect liberties by taking them away. How do people... I don't have the answers to this. I'm just observing, but we need more exploration.
Alex: I represent PP Russia and having fun is the only thing we have left. Having fun previously you had to be really right. We have issues such as internet voting, copyright enforced sanctions... These jumped out to the front topics of our elections. Now it is only the pirate party that has information on these issues. Maybe there is other information. I would like to thank you for your kind words and that you and the Sweden party will have fun and return perhaps together with PPI.
Rick: Our colleagues in Russia have some particular problems that are maybe not unique to Russia but unusual to European politics. To give one example, i remember one example from the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs where they congratulated an election result of 125% in the elections. That result was later adjusted, but it shows how things are enforced. I'm glad you are having fun, and I'm glad that you are trying. I greatly wish that you have fun. I am in Berlin now, and you are welcome.
Alex: Sovereign internet and many issues... We have not succeeded in opposing what has gone on here, but we are trying.
Rick: What we are doing at this moment, speaking with each other internationally, shows that we are so far ahead and it is something that we need to continue...
v-USPP: My name is V from the USPP. My point has always been to have fun and grow the party with social networking and memes. My question about your 3 points of fun, continuity, and educational, how does this transfer or translate to the individual?
Rick: There are 4 basic freedoms of the swarm: initiative, follow, not to do anything at all, and... I think it points down to leadership. It is not only ok but it is essential. It is not just for yourself, but also middle level leaders. to show them that this is something that needs to be lead by example from the top down.
v-USPP: I think it is a start. It has always been a leadership of not me, but of the swarm. That gives me a good dot to ponder. What does it mean to be a leader where I am also part of the swarm.
david (via chat) : does rick have ideas what is comparable to torrents in nowadays climate, from a political viewpoint i mean, not netflix
Rick: streaming we are familiar with, but what is an explosive issue in today's political climate. When Pirate party started, the iphone had just launched. Twitter did not exist. There is a hole arrising, which is a result of engineering for attention that did not exist at that time. What people care about is.. .I think it would relate to social media. I think you find it now with the exodus from Twitter to Mastadon. I think there could be a potential recruiting base there. You saw some of this 10 years ago with ?? There is clearly a sizeable core of people who care about these issues. They are unlikely to change the outcome of the voting, but there is a specific individual like torrenting, I don't think there is one, but these issues can pop up from time to time. There is article 13 or 17, which was about memes. It was an intervention of copyright and this galvinized people around Europe, and we were able to keep people who wanted to stay on this issue. There is probably going to be an avalance, what will begin this avalanche, I don't know.
Gregory: I understand that one of the founding topics was the global reform of copyrights, it is not protecting the consumerists, but only protecting the corporations and rights holders. We have not seen any improvement in the past 15 years. The last example was from Sony, and they lost rights to Discovery series, even though customers paid money, the content dispeared from their libraries. The consumer is the one who paid. I know people who buy stuff on online services and also download as torrents just to make sure that bought content is not deleted later. Do you see any perspective about what can be changed, in terms of copyright, and what an organization like PPI who do campaigning at the UN level, the international level can help forward.
Rick: I would disagree that we haven't made progress. We have changed the momentum. We aren't at the point where copyright is rolling back, but we have altered where the speed of things. We pat ourselves on the shoulder for that. We have had immense success on numerous other issues. I can feel some frustration. If it had not been for us, things would have been much worse today. It is a small comfort, but turning a ship takes time, a big tanker, but we have started that turn. Regarding ownership which is a far bigger question, we are actually... with the <initials> you are no longer permitted to service or repurpose your own possessions because it might violate the creaters rights to the product that you own. When Amazon lost the right to publish books that they sold on Kindle so they deleted the books. One of those books was 1984. It goes further than that. With Tesla also being a prime example. Others will reach the same level of electronic integration. The factory will keep changing your product after you bought it. We like it being updated. We like that they make it better, but that also means they can change it according to legal demands, however their shareholders desire.
Noam: In Israel we have had a streaming where the legal authority cracked down on it. So maybe we can monitor non-English platforms that have problems. This was the only Hebrew streaming service. About the Maslow period, I think today the internet is the most basic need, to vote, to change your address. I think we should insert the internet into the Maslow pyramid. Another thought is about international collaboration. We have been working with a group, we have hundreds of people monitoring ballots and develop an app to show where there are problems, it is in Hebrew. I am guessing that other parties only have elections only every few years, so it is a problem to create an application. We can use humans and technology to monitor changes in other countries.
Rick: I agree that our coordination is our strenght. We saw until 2010 that the copyright lobby was very success in siloing language areas, where they could make countries ashamed for being the worst. We were able to pitch things where everyone cannot be the worst. By discussing this between each other...
... I think you have the Maslow period there with the internet. The Maslow pyramid has already changed with access to the internet, whereby homeless people often have mobile phones, where they prioritize the phone before eating food. Access to internet is already at the base of the pyramid.
Gregory: There had been comments about AI. You can share some short comments, and we will wrap up to start the GA.
Rick: Any technology that has started is here to stay. AI will be engineered in the same way that our attention has been by social media. This is something we need to relate to, we need to be alerted. It comes with the promise of convenience. Singapore airport you check in at the entrance of the airport. THey will then know how you look like, because they know your face. You don't need to show anything else,because they know your face... It will come with convenience... We already see publishing propoganda... Amplify that by a million, and...

Thank you for the invitation to meet. You are more than welcome to come to Alexanderplatz. You are welcome to come for a chat and a beer.

Formalities

Meeting chair, secretary, acceptance of agenda

Gregory: Since Florie has left, it is currently my job to do so, unless there are objections. - I don't hear any.
Secretary: I suggest that the secretary is Keith with the help of other board members. There are no objections.
The agenda can be changed. Are there any objections. We can change things later as well.

Reports

Board Report

https://ga.pp-international.net/t/board-coa-treasurer-and-lay-auditor-reports/440/2

    • Summer 2023 PPI Board Report
  • Members of the Board
There are 9 members of the board (Florie Marie-chair, Gregory Engels-vice, Keith Goldstein-secretary, Bailey Lamon-treasurer, Michal Gill, Alexander Isavnin, Julian Häffner, Mauricio Vargas, Maycow Toledo), and 5 alternates (Sebastian Krone, Mia Utz, Raman Ojha, Carlos Polo, and Adam Wolf).
  • Board Meeting Attendance
In total the PPI Board held 8 meetings since the last GA. The board is currently meeting once a month. Recently the Pirate Beer social event is taking place directly prior to the board meetings, enabling the Pirate community and public to interact with the board and provide ideas that can be discussed later by the board. Board meetings are currently held on the fist Wednesdays of each month with a rotating basis for start times between 05:00 UTC and 21:00 UTC.
  • Financial Issues
The board addressed issues with affiliation fees, acknowledging issues with their payment. The board also recognized issues with payment of invoices.
  • UN Activities
ECOSOC Groundspasses were arranged in January, including groundspasses for PPI members at all 3 UN centers. After a 2 year delay due to the pandemic PPI was able to send representatives to the UN. This was a huge success, as we were able to issue the groundspasses at the beginning of the year and send numerous representatives to attend UN events. We attended events about AI, criminal use of the internet, and various meetings about NGO collaboration. Carlos Polo and the team in Geneva made numerous visits to UNOG and a blog was created. Ohad Shem Tov spearheaded meetings at UNHQ. We created a new UN activities email list unecosoc@pp-international.net to receive updates from the UN, addressing previous issues with emails not reaching all members. The SCUBA working group had several meetings on submitting session proposals to the IGF. They proposed sessions with Japanese Pirates and others on topics related to computer ethics and digital totalitarianism, with links available on the IGF website. The proposals passed the first judging, advancing to the second round, but they did not make the final cut of 80 chosen workshops (less than 10% of proposals were chosen). We are currently waiting to see if we can have a booth at the event for which a separate application was made.
  • Tools
The board revised slightly its primary tools. A renewed emphasis was placed on using Discord and Discourse. The board continues to use Wire for its internal communications. The Rules of Procedure were updated to use Discourse, Discord, and Wire instead of Redmine and Loomio. There were concerns raised about using Discord due to data privacy issues.
  • Issue with Discourse Admin

There was an issue with the Discourse platform and administrative rights. Cedric Levieux, the IT secretary, explained his decision to revoke administrative rights from some board members. This sparked a heated discussion particularly regarding the proper interpretation of the statutes. The Discourse admin access was removed for everyone by Stefan Thoni and then quickly reinstated following a decision by the board that all board members should be the only admins of the Discourse. Cedric voluntarily withdrew from the IT position. A proposal was made by Mike Gill to revoke Cedric’s membership from the Court of Arbitration. This decision was later referred to the GA.

  • Communication Group
The lack of regular social media content motivated the board to discuss setting up a new working group, a Communications Group, that would ensure regular content posting. This group still needs to be properly established.
  • PPIHQ

The possibility of moving the PPI headquarters from Brussels was discussed, with some members considering the advantages of a location change. However, no formal decision was made, and further discussion was proposed for the next meeting. Further discussions were made about the utility of PPI’s separate registrations in Switzerland, but also no decisions were made to change anything. Sebastian Krone discussed tax consequences in Belgium and obligations as a Swiss association. The decision to move would require approval from the General Assembly.

  • Other Updates
Florie Marie shared her experience of being banned from Twitter and proposed filing a complaint against Twitter at an international level in the name of freedom of speech.
PPI adopted the PPEU Code of Conduct.
PPI will commemorate Aaron Swarz Day in November (spearheaded by Maycow Toledo).
PPI provided a memorial message about the passing of David Miranda, a supporter of the Pirate Party in Brazil who was actively involved in their activities (spearheaded by Maycow Toledo).
The Board reviewed the list of Ordinary, Observer, and Other Contact for members and updated its contact database. More work needs to be done especially with social media. We should also attempt to add more people to the pp-leaders mailing list to ensure that everyone hears about our activities.
Pirate Party of Australia attended several of our meetings and has expressed interest in joining PPI, but we are still waiting for an application.
The US Pirate Party attended several of our meetings as a new member.


    • Fall/Winter 2023 Board Report (first draft)
The Board of PPI would like to thank all of our members for their participation and support. There were 5 Fall/Winter PPI board meeting sessions scheduled (4 completed at the time of writing). We began a once-a-month meeting schedule. All board meetings were announced on our website, by email to pp-leaders, and in various social media channels such as Discord. The board addressed the rescheduling of the GA frequently, as we were unable to reach quorum for the Summer GA. Reports from board members covered activities such as membership fee invoicing, interviews with journalists, and participation in international events. Many of our routine activities included blog writing and monitoring PPI tech. Bastian shared an article on Pirate Times and we discussed the importance of having regular publications there, but this is a project that we need to make more progress on. There are a number of projects that PPI needs assistance with, and we hope that our community will be able to support us with these issues following this meeting.
Two of the notable events PPI attended included the UNODC Cybercrime Convention in New York (attended by Keith Goldstein and Ohad Shem Tov) and the Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto (attended by Alexander Isavnin and Keith Goldstein). Carlos Polo updated us on various UN meetings that he attended and other updates from UNOG. Raman Ojha discussed the COP28 (environmental conference of the UN). We missed registration for this year’s conference, but we are working on getting PPI registered with the UNFCCC for future participation. There is another UNODC Cybercrime meeting in January 2024, as well as numerous other UN events. We will have to issue new groundspasses in January, and we encourage members to let us know if they want to attend a UN Conference.
Additional revisions to the Rules of Procedure clarified the practice of automatic delegation of votes to alternate board members in the absence of primary members. If not all 9 board members are present, then alternates replace them in order of seniority followed by voted rank. We discussed membership applications from the UK Pirate Party and the Pirate Party of Australia that will be discussed at this General Assembly. The relocation of PPI HQ is a recurring topic, as we deal with the separation of the organization between Switzerland and Belgium.
We discussed the formation of working groups for development and design, a proposal for a social media group, and one focused on artificial intelligence. We also discussed organizing a joint SCENE meeting with USPP, but so far it has not been scheduled.
Recognition was given to Bailey and Miles for their noteworthy article in Democracy Technologies. Maycow :Toledo informed us about the Aaron Schwarz Day event that he was organizing with the Brazilian Pirates.

The board learned about statements from other Pirate parties on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The board released a statement of its own and communicated frequently with members about publishing statements.

Events like Pirate beer and working groups were less frequently organized. Issues with organizing events and other projects relate with conflicts between board members and difficulties of board members to arrange time. We hope that members of the board will find ways to work together collaboratively and commit more time to improving the functioning of PPI. We also hope that our members will be able to assist further with organizing events and providing human resources.

Sincerely, The Board of PPI

  • PPI Tech Team report by Bastian
Despite all the anger, I kept up the PPI technology and took care of it every day. A very persistent problem in communication with Google's mail servers was finally analyzed and resolved.
Every day, we fend off thousands of attacks on our servers and on the PPI wiki in particular.
Our Discourse instance (https://ga.pp-international.net/) was hijacked in the meantime and all admins were removed. The unauthorized intervention was noticed, and the old accesses were restored.

Treasurer Report

  • Treasurer Report
I have been the Treasurer of PPI since January 2023. It is worth noting that this is the first time I have ever held the role of Treasurer in any organization, so I came into this without experience and just learning as I go along which has been fun and intimidating at the same time. Unfortunately due to various personal circumstances this year it was very difficult for me to attend meetings and do very much with the Treasurer role, and I would like to apologize to the rest of the PPI board as well as the membership for not being as present and involved as I hoped to be and in turn, not being a great Treasurer.
I’ve had access to our PostFinance account for a couple of years but I started to have trouble logging in online due to issues with the PIN on my card reader which is needed to login. When I was in Europe earlier this year I spent a couple of days in Geneva, Switzerland and while I was there I went into PostFinance to see about getting a new PIN number, but they told me I needed to request this over the phone. Later on I called and requested a new PIN, they sent me one, and I was able to log in once or twice and then I didn’t for a while and then when I went back later and tried, I started having issues with it again. I think I might be getting confused by the process, I don’t know. But I couldn’t get in there. Thankfully Gregory was able to forward me the bank statements so I’ve been going through those and so I am now able to paint you a picture of what our financial situation looks like.
Firstly, keep in mind that we have two PostFinance accounts, one in Swiss Francs and the other in Euros. I will be mostly dealing with Swiss Francs because that is the currency which most of our statements are in and the majority of the transactions both in and out of the account are in this currency. When I present the budget proposal for 2024 later on in the meeting, it will be in Swiss Francs.
At the beginning of 2023 we had a total of 5035.88 CHF in the account, and after a number of payments throughout the year related mostly to tech costs and account fees, that number is currently at 3133,61 CHF and after one more account management fee at the end of the month, we will end the year with 3128,66 CHF. Additionally, in the euro account we started off the year with 66,09 euros and we currently have 4,71 euros. We need to transfer funds into the euro account to cover future account fees which are only about 5 euros each. We also have 0.01537 in Bitcoin and 0.06905 in Etherium. We have long discussed exchanging the crypto into euros or Swiss francs because it is just sitting there. We also have a Paypal account with 900,66 CHF. I included all of these conversions in the budget proposal.
We did have a few parties who paid their membership fees this year, but not nearly enough. Obviously if you have paid your membership fee or you’ve contacted us to let us know that you can’t pay it this year, ignore this message. You’ve all been sent your invoices so please have a look at those if you haven’t already and if you’re able to pay your membership fees, please do. If you need another copy of your invoice, feel free to reach out to me and I will send it to you. As always, we understand that as political parties you all have your own expenses to take care of so it’s not always possible to pay for extra things like your PPI membership, and that is completely ok. We just ask that if this is the case, tell us so that we know not to bother you about it. Also, if for whatever reason you feel we have made a mistake of any kind when it comes to your membership fee, let us know that as well.
I hoped that this year I would be able to organize some financial planning events where delegates from the Pirate community could come together and share/work on ideas for fundraising, a webshop and things that can improve PPI’s finances and expand our capabilities for financially contributing to the movement. Regrettably, that did not happen. Hopefully it can happen next term. That said, while I will do my best to help however possible, it will not be me leading this effort as I do not plan to continue in the Treasurer position next term. This was simply not the job for me and considering how difficult it was to be present this past year, it was a mistake to go for it (I only did it because no one else would and we needed somebody in the position). We have many talented and financially literate folks in this community, I have no doubt that the right person will take over and be the Treasurer that PPI deserves.

Court of Arbitration Report

No report has been submitted.

Lay Auditor Report

Noam: There aren't too much to audit. I hope that next year there will be more, and I will be happy to keep helping. Maybe we can make a list of what every party can donate, and it would be great to exchange these on a common market where we can donate to each other.
  • Main conclusions: (Reported by Noam)
1. Should update status of PayPal CHF and EUR
2. Need to urgently depost to EUR account because 2024 will start with less than 5 EUR which is the monthly management fees they charge
3. Cryptos - Wiki is last updated for 2021, but I see there is no change in cryptos since, right?

If there's no activity should probably just exchanges to EUR, in my opinion.

Budget Proposal

Bailey: the goal was to keep this as simple as possible, and it largely follows the same budget.
Our total finances costs and fixed expenses are (she reads off totals from the spreadsheet)... Legal costs such as registration are not listed. I figured we can cross that bridge when we get there. When you move down, we have the variable expenses. I didn't put anything for the next GA, because we have been doing them online. I went with the amounts that were in the past, Think Twice, Pirate Summer Camp, Pirate Security Conference, and there is an amount that is available for an additional donation if we want to. (Bailey reads through all of the items and explains the rationale for each.)
Noam: I would like to suggest adding 2024 membership fees to the budget.
Bailey: The issue is that we always go for membership fees for the prior year. That's why I don't have that in there, it is the remaining from 2022 and 2023 fees.
Miles: there is some organizational risk, why the invoices are 12 months post rather than in advance?
Bailey: As far as sending invoices for the previous years. I don't know. It is in the statutes and that has been the proceedure for a while.
Gregory: It was decided by the GA, and it said that it is due to a decision about the membership fees.
Noam: Maybe we can decide in the future to ask for membership fees in advance.
Bastian: 2 remarks. In the past we had problems with the finances, and we can change it. It is a GA, and we are billing earlier. So parties that are able to pay can pay earlier. I think it is a good idea to have more overview and so on. I have another remark. In fact, the costs are 600 euros higher. That's about CHF 569.00, which will be donated if the bill is paid.

And we lay out these costs for the PPI during the current year. If you don't have that in the budget and don't have that documented that that is a donation, then we have a problem with the budget and the donation.

Mike: I would like to propose something like the PPEU is currently run, where the fees are for the year in which they are usually run. Since small parties have a fee of zero, I don't think it will be such a burden. It will also help clarify delegates. This is a proposal for the future.
Keith: Perhaps we need to wait to vote on this and allow the new member applications.
Rudolph: Can we solve the issue of the Slovakia parties?
Gregory: We can, and we will work on this after the new member applications.


Motion
2023 Budget
Yes : 6.5
No :
Abstain : 1
Result: The budget was accepted.


Pirate Party of Australia - yes

Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party -yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece -
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party of Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - abstain
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
Miles: Regarding Turkey, I can obtain a statement that the new party was disolved and that the old party was disolved.
Gregory: It would be good to have an original document.
Miles: It could be that the organization was never registered or incorporated as a political party.
Gregory: I think that they were never a political party, but I remember seeing them registered as an organization.

We will take a break and come back in 20 minutes, so at 14:50 UTC.

New Member Applications

  • Pirate Party Australia application for ordinary membership of Pirate Parties International
Link to Discourse Application: https://ga.pp-international.net/t/membership-applications-december-2023/441/6
President: Miles Whiticker, miles.whiticker@pirateparty.org.au
Secretary: Alex Jago, alex.jago@pirateparty.org.au
General Inquiries: enquiries@pirateparty.org.au
For a full list of the National Council, refer to https://pirateparty.org.au/national-council/
Press inquiries to Miles or Alex.
Party constitution: https://pirateparty.org.au/constitution/
Party originally founded in 2008 by Rodney Serkowski, first registered for federal elections in 2013 (not presently registered).
Membership count: approximately 200.
Electoral policy platform https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform
We are a member organisation of the Fusion Party electoral coalition, for more info and policies see http://fusionparty.org.au/
Earlier this week, the National Council (our executive committee) passed a motion approving and agreeing to abide by the PPI statutes.
My name is Miles and apologies to my own party as I am about to give a speech that they weren't updated on. I gave a speech at the prior GA and want to give a report on Fusion, at the time we gave our intention of applying for PPI. We were a member in the early days and left around 2015. There was some time and we are back now. We went through that deliberative process. We looked at the issues, and to our satisfaction they have been addressed. PPI isn't a perfect organization, but we also have our issues. Our community has grown. Fusion is a collaborative political movement, that covers technology... We aim to move with the support of the international pirates. thanks to PP Israel, USPP, a shame about the loss of PP of Turkey, and to my knowledge there are no active pirates from any Islamic parties. If there were we would have made efforts to make contact and support them with the current conflict in Gaza. The international pirates must seek vision and hope... I am always a political pirate, and within Australia these are discussions that we have been having, about the identity of pirates in Australia. And these have lead to the creation of Fusion. We heard from Rick Falvinge, someone who I have already heard stories about, and it was an interesting experience. In Rick's eyes, how he wanted to support the Pirate movement. I think we need to look towards the future, how we can reinvent ourselves. In Europe and in America, there are rising tides... There has never been a time more critical in history where an international movement can make an impact. Thank you for listening.
text of speech: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zfnbPRecT5Bx7dCMx8bkOoi_mcqu2P6Sn9HG8W3jqZM/edit
Gregory: Are there any questions to the application?


Motion
Do we accept PPAU as an ordinary member in PPI?
Yes : 7.5 votes, unanimous approval
No :
Abstain :
Result: PPAU is now an ordinary member of PPI


Pirate Party of Belgium -

Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece -
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - Yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party of Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) -
Pirate Party - Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - yes
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Lucy from the new PPUK indicated that they will apply for observer membership.
These are their statutes: https://github.com/pirate-party-uk/Rules/blob/main/Pirate-Party-UK-Constitution.md
Application link on Discoursehttps://ga.pp-international.net/t/membership-applications-december-2023/441/3
Here is statement on the adoption of the PPI’s Statutes
https://github.com/pirate-party-uk/Rules
This pull request adds the "Bylaws of the UK Pirate Party
founding date:
Founding date is really unclear
It could be when we registered with the EC (peddning)
Could be when the old was founded (30 July 2009)
It could be when I restarted the party (11/03/2023)
Hi I'm Lucy. I'm the leader of PPUK. We are seeking observer membership, because we are not yet fully set up.
What are the big policy issues that motivate the UK Pirates?
Looking at copyright reform, trans rights, we have always been a progressive movement, privacy as well. We are trying to push for an internet blackout day.
PPAU: I am excited that UK Pirates are reemerging. It is interesting that transrights are on the agenda, as there are many people representing transrights...
Noam: I am curious about the history of the Pirate movement in the UK.
Lucy: I was a member of the old pirate party, so we have relation. We have evidence of the old party supporting us. It is just that they said that they will give us the old website after registering as an official party.
Motion
Do we accept PPUK as an observer member in PPI?
Yes : 8.5 votes. It is unaninimous.
No :
Abstain :
Result: PPUK is accepted as an observer member of PPI.


Pirate Party of Australia - yes
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece -
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party of Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) -
Pirate Party - Slovakia (1/2 vote; vote shared with the other Slovakia) - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - yes
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
Bastian: I have always thought that the PPUK will come back, so I bought for you the domain of PPUK, and we will help any way that we can.

Update on Issue With Slovakia Old Party

Gregory: We have an issue in our statutes where if there are more than one party from the same country
  • Old PP Slovakia Status
Submitted by Rudolf Molnar, Vice President of Pirate Party-Slovakia
Dear Pirates,
We would like to resolve the situation that arose in Slovakia in the pirate movement.
In April 2023, Zuzana Šubová, a well-known anti-corruption fighter and politician, was elected as new chairman of the party. After less than 6 months from the change of leadership, we took part in early elections in October 2023, where we achieved a result of 0.31%. Many new members joined the party- Former police investigator, lawyers, civil servants, teachers and many more. On December 2, 2023 the national forum confirmed Zuzana Šubová as chairman and her team as party leaders. We are preparing for the elections to the European Parliament in 2024.
We want to ask the PPI leadership to reconsider the split of the electoral vote for Slovakia into two halves. The original association formed in 2011 was canceled by the decision of the Ministry of the Interior on June 23, 2021. The Facebook account of the association has been cancelled. We tried to come to an agreement with the members of the original association, but we could not find a common solution to the situation. We are currently taking legal action because they violate Slovak laws. They introduce new members who want to join the pirate movement because they refuse to take down their website, which is often confused with ours. They collect membership fees even though they do not officially have the right to do so.
Based on these facts, we demand the cancellation of the membership of the “old Slovakian pirate party” and the awarding of half of its vote to the Pirate Party - Slovakia as the only real pirate organization in Slovakia.
The members of the “old Slovakian pirate party” can get status of observer member as a person, not as an organization if they show interest to stay in PPI.
Thank you for your understanding
Sincerely
Rudolf Molnar
Vice President of Pirate Party-Slovakia
  • Policy statements at global forums
Are there any specific causes that we would like to make statements about at the UN or other global forums?


Gregory - I have a question you wrote that the original declaration was cancelled. What does that mean cancelled? Were they officially disolved?
Rudolf: Yes, you cannot have an association with the name of political party. It can't be registered that way.
Gregory: We have a statement in our statutes that membership is disolved if the organization is disolved. (3) A Member’s affiliation ceases automatically upon dissolution, disqualification, liquidation or in cases of temporary administration, court-ordered settlement or insolvency. The Membership also ends automatically when this Member does no longer fulfill the criteria that were necessary for its preliminary recognition as a Member.
Mike: Just a note for the future when we touch the statutes, for now this is perfectly valid, because not all governments are equal and some might disband political parties for political reasons, and we shouldn't rely on governments. Lawfully though the party was disbanded.
Gregory: As such, I think we have only 1 political party from Slovakia with a full vote.


Elections

Election of New Board Members

Discourse Link: https://ga.pp-international.net/t/election-of-officers/450
This December we will hold elections for the following positions. Please, submit your nominations.
1 Chair
1 Vice Chairperson
4 Board Members (Position of Mike Gill is for 1 year)
Alternate Board Members (no limit)
3 Lay Auditors
6 Court of Arbitration members
term would start officially on Jan. 8th
  • Additional Board Member opening due to resignation of Mike Gill


  • Candidates
Nominations of Potsdam (Board Members)
Keith Goldstein
Sebastian Krone
Proof for the nomination can be found at:https://wiki.piratenbrandenburg.de/Potsdam/Beschluss/2023-004
Potsdam/Beschluss/2023-004 – PiratenWiki
Nominations of Pirates without Borders
Gregory Engels (PP-DE) as Vice-Chairperson
Gregory Engels (PP-DE) as Chairperson (if an election should also be held here).
Manuel Caicedo / PP-CL Board Member or Alternate Board Member
Keith L. Goldstein / PP-IL (recommended as Secretary General)
Alexander Isavnin / PP-RU Board Member or Alternate Board Member
Thomas Gaul (PP-DE) Alternate Board Member
Thomas Gaul (PP-DE) Lay Auditor
Thomas Gaul (PP-DE) Court of Arbitration
Sebastian Krone (PP-DE) Board Member (recommended as Treasurer) or Alternate Board Member
PPDE Proposal:
Vice Chairperson: (1) Gregory Engels (PP-DE)
Board Members (3): Keith L. Goldstein (PP-IL), Alexander Isavnin (PP-RU), Manuel Caicedo (PP-CL)
Lay Auditors (3): Manuela Langer PP-DE
Court of Arbitration members: (6) Thomas Gaul PP-DE, Joe Onoroski PP-USA, Ohad Shem Tov PP-IL, Martin Kollien-Glaser
  • Pirate Party of Russia nominates
Alexander Isavnin as a candidate for board member, Nikolay Voronov as candidate for CoA and candidate for Auditors (if insuccesful for CoA).
Gregory: Asks Bailey to step in to chair the meeting in place of him for this election.
  • Roll call:
Pirate Party of Australia - x
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - x
Czech Pirate Party - x
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - x
Pirate Party of Greece - x
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - x
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - x
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - x
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - x
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - x
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Result: 9,5

1 Chair

  • Candidates:
Gregory Engels
I have been with the Pirates since 2009 and have worked in a lot of roles. There were 1 or 2 years that I was not on the board. I was an alternate and I was in and out. I have probably been the longest for the long dark past. I have never been chair. I have co-chaired. The last 5 years I spent as vice-chair, supporting the chair. Working with members, facilitating work between them. I am very glad where the organization has come. Getting observer status at ECOSOC. Making suggestions and representing policies for our members where our members do not have access in international politics. I think it is improtant where we have our place. The Nextcloud includes a place to share design templates, video files... If anyone wants access to this, just let us know. Organizing conferences, we used to have the GA as a physical conference. I just came back from Brussels, where we saw there was a place for parties to mingle. I think that is also one of the reasons that we don't have attendance from European pirates today, so it is not so easy for them to join. I think PPI should also provide a place for international pirates. Since the pandemic is not over but not obstructing our lives, I think next year we should aim to create a physical meeting. We should choose perhaps outside Europe, some other country, to give people a place to meet and network. I am kind of married with PPI, and I will be there regardless, with all of my heart. Last year I have been a little bit less active. I finished a masters with a thesis about using DAOs in international associations, and this is something I would like to see us do with automatic smart contracts to enable us to make decisions between the meetings and the GA. I am 47 and live in Germany. I was originally born in the Soviet Union...
Miles: Can you give us a run down of your experience on election campaigning?
Gregory: I have been a candidate in numerous elections. I am currently number 11 in the national list. I have been a candidate in national, regional, local. I worked for 5 years in my local city council, and I am currently in a small elected position that does not take a lot of requirement. I would move into parliament if someone moves down. I have been in the Bundestag election... spent a lot of time traveling, speaking with lots of people in front of cameras... speaking to teachers, firefighters... designing... I would not say that I am an expert, because there are better experts, but I am washed with all waters as pirates would say.

V-USPP: I am always thankful of your knowing all of the statutes. What do you see as the chair of the board, but how do you see the board and pirates going forward?

Gregory: The best way is to win elections. But PPI is not a political party. There have been proposals that have not been taken seriously. The PPI have a unique advantage as a political organization that speaks to other political organizations. We have access to all UN conferences and meetings, access to delegates, and can make statements. A lot of policies are made at the international level by people who have not been elected. Lobbying at that level are made by people who have money and influences. I think it is important that pirates take their chances to make (themselves heard)... I am happy to serve PPI in whatever way they think I should.
Bailey: Are there any other candidates? (none)
  • Votes:
Pirate Party of Australia - abstain
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece - abstain
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland -
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - abstain
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Result: 6.5 yes, 3 abstentions


Motion
Do we accept Gregory Engels as chair of PPI?
{{{text}}}
Yes : 6.5
No : 0
Abstain : 3
Result: Gregory Engels is elected as the chair of PPI.


Thanasis: I would like to make a statement after the vote from Pirate Party of Greece. I believe it would support the voting. We have a statement about our abstain votes. During the past year the Pirate Party of Greece we were overloaded with the Green... and lost connections. We missed the advances of PPEU and PPI. To this point the statement of the prior chair, made an issue. The Greek Party is an anti-sexist and egalitarian party, and therefore we decided to abstain from all other votes.
Gregory: thank you, so I understand that Greece will vote abstain in all other votes.

1 Vice Chairperson

Candidates:

  • Gregory Engels already elected as chair
  • Keith Goldstein (nominated bei PP-IL)
  • V-USPP (Sarai Sopphey Vance Oviedo) (nominated by PP-US)
  • Mlemt (nominated by PP-AU)
Miles: Question if there is any age requirement. He would like to nominate one of the young Australian Pirates, Mlemt.
Bastian: What age? 16 to 18? (yes). I'm not sure about the legal status in Australia, but he may require approval from his parents/legal guardian.
Miles: He asks what the meeting schedule is like and what would be required.
Gregory: The meeting schedule is currently once a month, and it rotates. The responsibility is to chair meetings and represent the organization to the outside if the chair is not available, such as to the banks and all other organizations, and so on.
Alex: for those who have few working experience on the board, or we recommend... or we might experience with the previous chair who had problems with supervising and attending meetings. I want to make sure that the nominees understand what the responsibilities are.
Mlemt: I am 18 soon, so it wouldn't require parental approval. I have experience recording minutes and training in relation to the requirements of vice chair. Personally, I have always wanted to contribute to the movement. I feel very strongly about the right to Privacy, freedom of information... I'll be happy to be considered for the role.
Miles: I think we need to do more with the young generation, who have issues with climate change, and other issues that we need to put young people forward...
Mike: Although I agree with what Miles just said, but I wonder if Gregory quit and you would become the chair I am not sure how the Swiss bank would react.
Gregory: I would like to ask that you wait for these questions.
candidate list closed.
introduction of candidates
Keith: I have worked a long time on board of PPI.
V: I am a long time activist. I have been involved in the Pirate movement since March. Before then I was a member of Occupy. Before that I have been a student in a technology school. I am 35 years old. I have a Bachelors of Science and a Masters in Divinity. I am very interested having worked with other pirate parties, as a bilingual person of English and Spanish...
Miles: I was also involved in Occupy. How is that going? No, there are no current active Occupy chapters. As luck as would have it, the 3 members of the Texas Pirates, we are all Occupy Activists, I apologize for that confusion.
Mlemt: This was unexpected. I like how international this movent is. I really want to take the shot at this opportunity. I really want to take the shot. I was accepted into a top computer science university and received a diploma while studying in high school.
Pirate Party of Switzerland is now partitipating in the meeting
Gregory: In case you are not accepted as vice chairperson, would you be open to a candidate for other board positions?
Mlemt: If so, then I will, as it looks likely, I will take the opportunity as a board member.

(A number of questions and answers were asked for all of the candidates, but we were not able to write all of the conversation here. Please refer to the recording.)

Election Method: Approval Method: RoP Art 6a-6-b) Every Ordinary Member may vote "yes" for any number of candidates. c) The candidates that has achieved a simple majority of the "yes" votes from Ordinary Members present or represented and voting on them(St X(1)) are elected in the order determined by number of "yes" votes accumulated. Abstentions are not taken into account. In event of a tie where order matters, deciding elections are held, where only one "yes" vote per Ordinary Member can be cast.

  • Votes:
Pirate Party of Australia - V , Mlemt
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - Keith , V,
Czech Pirate Party - Keith
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - Keith, V,
Pirate Party of Greece - no votes
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - Keith
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - Keith, V, Mlemt
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - Keith, V, Mlemt
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - Keith
Pirate Party Switzerland - Keith
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - Keith, V, Mlemt
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Results:
Keith: 8,5
V: 5,5
Mlemt: 2,5
  • Keith is elected Vice-Chair

4 Board Members

3 Board Members for two years 1 Board Member for 1 year

Candidates:

  • Keith Goldstein already elected as vice-chair
  • Sebastian Krone
  • Manuel Caicedo not reachable
  • Alexander Isavnin
  • Mlemt (Owen Connor Richardson)
  • V (Sarai Sopphey Vance Oviedo)
Sebastian: I have been active since 2011. When I took over the chair of the GA. I am sure that you will remember what a challenge over 12 years. I have had a number of roles. We completely rebuilt the PPI tech. SInce then I have been checking everyday. So far we are running with 99.9 reliability. I do a lot in the background, even as an alternate member. If you have me as a member, we can go forward. We have so much to do. Standing committees are not running so smoothly. What I can do is offer my support. If you have question, questions, please.
Manuel: Mauricio speaking on behalf of Manuel. We cannot contact him in the past month, so I don't know. I write a message to him, and before that, and I don't receive a response.
Alexander (in case of loosing connecton before moment of elections) I've joined Pirate Party of Russia since it's inception, but became more active in local politics in 2018, joined PPRU board, then joined PPI board in 2022. My current professtional activities include Internet regulation and Governance. I strongly oppose top-down governmental regulations and IT abuse limiting freedoms by the states. I speak at the international events and conferencies, you may find recordings. In Russia i participate in local elections since 2018, criticize Internet regilations, Media regulations and Internet votings and other actions of current Russian regime. In PPI board i promote participation in UN Internet Governance activities and setting up cooperation between all possible stakholders.
Miles: I am happy that the Russian pirates are maintaining a presence. Are you concerned, or do you have concerns for your safety or the viability of Russian politics?
Alexander: Yes, we have concerns. What saves us is that there are much more public and active politicians. Our opposition is not... in terms of information application. in terms of modern regulation in Russia, it might be risky, what saves us is the lazyness of repressive organizations. They are a bit slower. It is not like Stalin. In our situation now, it is just staying silent and beware of being oppressed is not a choice. They will remember anything that we have said previously, anyway. You may check it on PPEU and PPI site our statement on the current war. Russian Pirate Party had made a statement, one of the first Russian political forces. Late during improvement of war censorship regulation, we have to move out. That is why I send you to read PPI statement. We are doing something, but we try to do it carefully...
Mike: Do we have a way of deciding who gets the 1 year position?
  • Votes:
Pirate Party of Australia - all
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - all
Czech Pirate Party - all
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - all
Pirate Party of Greece - abstain
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - all
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - all
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - all
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - all
Pirate Party Switzerland - all
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - all
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Result:
All 4 are elected
  • Isvanin volunteers to be elected for one year only


Alternate members

  • for two years

Candidates: * Manuel Caicedo / PP-CL not reachable * Alexander Isavnin / PP-RU elected as board member

  • Thomas Gaul / PP-DE

* Carlos Polo/ PP-CH still currently an alternate


What are the responsibilities of the alternate board members?
They are there to replace board members, and also that they have full voting rights if someone is not present.
  • Votes:
Pirate Party of Australia - abstain
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece - abstain
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland - yes
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - yes
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Result. 8.5 yes - 2 abstentions
Thomas Gaul is elected as Alternate Board member.

Election of Court of Arbitration

up to 1 positions:

Gregory: I read that these positions are for 2 years, and we do not need to have elections for CoA. Art XIVa(7)The Council of the Court of Arbitration shall have between three and seven Members. The provisions concerning the election of the Members of the Board and vacancies apply accordingly.
  • Candidates:
Thomas Gaul PP-DE
Joe Onoroski PP-USA
Ohad Shem Tov PP-IL
Martin Kollien-Glaser PP-DE
Nikolay Voronov PP-RU
Miles Whiticker (PPAU)
Pirate Party of Australia - Miles
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - all
Czech Pirate Party - all
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - all
Pirate Party of Greece -
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - all
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - all
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - all
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - all
Pirate Party Switzerland - all
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - all
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • Results:
Ohad: 8,5
Nikolay: 8,5
Miles: 9,5
  • Miles accepts the vote and becomes the additional CoA member.

Election of Lay Auditors

3 positions: For one year

  • Candidates:
Manuela Langer PP-DE
Noam Kuzar PP-IL
Nikolay Voronov PP-RU
Mike Gill PP-CZ
Manuela is not present. Martin represents her. We knew there is a problem, so we will call back the nomination for Manuela. The nomination is withdrawn.
Noam is cofounder and chair of PPIL. He runs an NGO for culture, art, and peace in Jerusalem that deals with freedom of speech. He has been lay auditor for the past 2 years. He has a lot of experience with organizational capacity building and will be happy to serve another year.
Nikolay: From PPRU, for him the position is something that he has done in the past.
Gregory: We need another candidate for the 3rd position. A description of the lay auditor is in the statutes. They should inspect the accounts on a yearly basis. They make a financial audit of the accounts and work together with the treasurer to see if there is anything wrong with the accounts, so that it provides an additional set of eyes to see if there are any problems or discrepencies. This year they recommended to put money on the euro account, because it will run dry.

Noam: In general it is once a year, I look at the accounts and make sure that everything is in order. I would be happy to be more involved throughout the year.

Pirates without Borders: Takes over the nomination of Mike Gill for Lay Auditor
Mike Gill: I have been board of PPI for 5 years, Czech Pirates since 2012. I am the head of the foreign department in Czech. I also worked in finances for the Czech Pirates, which might help.


Motion
Do we accept Mike Gill, Noam Kuzar, and Nikolay Voronov for lay auditor?
Yes :
No :
Abstain :
Result:


Pirate Party of Australia - all
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - all
Czech Pirate Party - all
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - all
Pirate Party of Greece - abstain
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - all
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - all
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - all
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - all
Pirate Party Switzerland - all
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - all
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • All 3 candidates have been elected with 9.5 yes votes. All 3 candidates accepted.

Motions

*Revocation of Cedric Levieux’s membership on the Council of the CoA

Submitted by Mike Gill on behalf of PPCZ.
Based on the events in Spring of 2023, when Cedric Levieux (a CoA Council member) unilaterally revoked administrator and moderator privileges to this very platform, our Discourse server, I, on behalf of the PPCZ delegation, propose that Cedric’s conduct in this matter be investigated by the CoA according to section XIa. of our Statutes.

For the motion to pass, a one fifth of the voting power needs to vote on this motion. I believe that the unilateral act of sabotage of PPI’s systems is something that needs to have its consequences. All the board members are well informed about this case and can be consulted on the matter. Also, the votes for the investigation to start needn’t only be cast at the GA. I hereby call on all PPI members’ international coordinators to write to the PPI board and tell us their decision in this matter.

    • Motion: Does your party agree to initiate the revocation of a PPI officer Cedric Levieux by calling upon the Court of Arbitration to investigate the case of unilateral stripping all other Discourse admins of their rights in Spring 2023?
Summary of events:
mid April 2023: Cedric Levieux removes all administrator and moderator rights from everyone at the PPI Discourse server
11.5.2023: Stefan Thöni, the Discourse chief admin, informs the board and suspends the Discourse until issue is resolved
Issue resolved at the Board meeting on 24.5.2023 and Stefan immediately restores Discourse.
At the same Board meeting, Cedric is asked to explain his actions. At least in my opinion, he gives a lot of poor excuses and absolutely no reason that would in any way justify his actions.
For the reasons above I see no other way but to initiate the Revocation proceedings leading to CoA’s investigation and potential removal of Cedric Levieux from his office (on the CoA, ironically). Thank you for your time and support for this motion. I’m available for any questions at michal.gill@pirati.cz.
At the end, allow me to clarify that we’re only submitting a motion to the CoA, whether they should investigate and act on the evidence. We’re just allowing for the incident to be properly investigated, which, to me, is a no-brainer.

Mike Gill, PPCZ

PS: The PPCZ votes YES on this motion.
PPS: Picture: Log from the Discourse server admins’ removal by Cedric (Farlistener) and the actions taken afterwards by Stafan (Exception) to stop this.
  • 1/5 of the members = 6 out of 28 Members
Pirate Party of Australia - yes
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece - abstaining
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland - yes
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - yes
Pirate Party of Venezuela -
  • The decision passes, and it will now be transferred to the Court of Arbitration.

Working Groups' Updates

*UN ECOSOC (SCUBA), SCENE, and other Working Groups

We will update on activities at the UN. Meetings we attended. Who has groundspasses, and we will issue a final call from any members who want to attend events this year and need access to UN facilities.
If you would like to get involved in this lobbying work, you are very welcome. It is very intensive in time and travel investment. There are a lot papers to read and work.
Carlos: In Geneva, if you would like to come, we invite people. We go to follow some issues...
  • SCENE
V: In the earlier part of Oct. and Nov. I dedicated myself to working with this group and it was not clear how to talk with pirates. We have not had a meeting yet, but I would love to work with that initiative. We will probably get started in the 2nd week of January.

Any Other Business

*Policy statements at global forums

Are there any specific causes that we would like to make statements about at the UN or other global forums?
  • AI Safety
Miles: for the safe and beneficial use of AI. I highly encourage PPEU to do everything they can to get involved in this, and I think it is also important for PPI through the UN.
  • Climate Change
Miles: AI Safety has issued a statement about a safe use of AI - I strongly encourage us or PPEU to get involved in this.
Miles: Also get more involved into the climate change issues - COP is probably the right forum to get involved.

*Other Public Statements

Are there any specific causes that we would like to make statements about on our website, social media, or elsewhere (e.g. refugee issues, whistleblower campaigns, conflict regions, environmental problems)?
PPCL: In Other public statements, I propose to issue a statement on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the declaration of human rights.

I propose something like the following:

December 09th, 2023.

Motion
Do we adopt the declaration as sugested:

75 years after the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a pirate movement, we renew our commitment to the defense and promotion of the rights established in the 1948 text and the treaties that have followed, which enshrine the ethical minimums we want for all people, communities and countries.

We reinforce our work to overthrow all discrimination and subjugation of human beings by States, corporations and individuals.

We call on the international community to continue working to co-construct a world that guarantees the dignity and freedom of individuals and communities, based on the collaboration of peoples in solidarity.

At a time when greed and lust for power seem to plunge the planet into a frenzied spiral of violence and violation of the most basic rights, the pirate movement (those of us who sign here), will continue to fight to improve our societies and face the environmental, social and economic challenges that affect us as a global community; acting in solidarity with countries with weak democracies or captured by anti-democratic and extremist sectors.

(Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 28, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

Yes : 9,5
No :
Abstain : 1
Result: motion passed


Pirate Party of Australia - yes
Pirate Party of Belgium -
Pirate Party of Brazil -
Pirate Party of Catalonia -
Pirate Party of Chile - yes
Czech Pirate Party - yes
Estonian Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of France -
Pirate Party Germany - yes
Pirate Party of Greece - abstain
Pirate Party of Hungary -
Pirate Party of Israel - yes
Pirate Party of Italy -
Pirate Party Luxembourg -
Pirate Party of Netherlands -
Pirate Party of New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with IP New Zealand) -
Internet Party New Zealand (1/2 vote; vote shared with PP New Zealand) - yes
Pirate Party of Norway -
Polish Pirate Party -
Pirate Party of Portugal -
Pirate Party of Russia - yes
Pirate Party of Serbia -
Pirate Party - Slovakia - yes
Pirate Party Switzerland - yes
Pirate Party of Tunisia -
Pirate Party of Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with new Pirate Party Turkey) - <party was apparently disolved>
Pirate Party Turkey (1/2 vote; vote shared with old Pirate Party of Turkey) -
Ukrainian Pirate Community -
United States Pirate Party - yes
Pirate Party of Venezuela -


PPUK: The UK Governmen and refugees rights.
PPIL: generally about Freedom of Expression and Information and DIGITAL human rights

*Collaboration

ECOSOC and other forums encourage us to collaborate with other NGOs on organizing events and making statements. Are there any specific NGOs that we would like to collaborate with?
PPAU: I am involved in Effective Altruism movement, and there is some interesting overlap in the goals - so we should see if we can keep them on our radar for cooperation.
Gregory: Knowledge Ecology international - we should renew our cooperation

Noam: Creative Commons, OpenSource

*PPI E-Democracy

A PPI DAO is something that we have discussed at prior GAs, especially in line with the mandate to establish an E-Democracy system for PPI. We set up the template for the DAO, but several members expressed opposition to the proposal and the project was essentially derailed. Are parties interested in having PPI vote on-chain, and if so would we like to continue with the original idea of using Ethereum or another chain?

Noam: Maybe we can map all of the different platforms, so we can use it and rate it. There were a lot of interesting ideas, on issues... But maybe we should map platforms...

*Revision of Board Member Status to 1 Member for 1 Country, Let's Just Discuss It

We discussed at the PPI board meeting a radical statute amendment to change the PPI Board structure from a board consisting of 7 board members to a board that would consist of 1 board member from each party. Such a system would eliminate the need to vote for board members. Under such a system we might decide to let the GA decide on General Secretary and Treasurer, in addition to Chair and Vice Chair. All board member positions would be nominations from each party that are automatically accepted. Furthermore, alternate board members would take on a much more central role. We decided that we would discuss this with the GA and if necessary can present a statute amendment for the following GA.
  • GA closed by Gregory at 18:25 UTC
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