Press release: Pirate Parties International conference in Brussels 16 -18 April

On 16-18 April 2010, 70 representatives of Pirate Parties from 22 countries will meet in Brussels to form the umbrella organization Pirate Parties International (PPI), prepare a common declaration of principles for Pirate Parties and elect the first official board of the PPI. On Sunday 18 at 14:00 (local time) a press conference will be held to inform the public about the outcome of the discussions and give the newly elected board the opportunity to present the organization.

The representatives, including Rick Falkvinge, initiator of the Pirate movement, will have the occasion to meet with the Pirate Members of the European Parliament, Christian Engström and Amelia Andersdotter. “This conference is a great opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the existing Pirate Parties and create an organization that helps coordinating the efforts of every single Pirate Party in the world” says Christian Engström, Swedish Pirate MEP since 2009. “International cooperation is a necessity in order to expand the pirate ideas. Examples like the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and INDECT show that there is a need for a strong umbrella organization like Pirate Parties International to fight for a copyright reform, against surveillance and the Pirate agenda in general. ”

The idea behind an umbrella organization for the Pirate movement was born in 2007, and brought to fruition when representatives from five countries appointed the “Coreteam” with the task to coordinate the international Pirate movement and lay the foundations for the creation of an official international organization. Since 2009 PPI has helped in the creation and management of several new Pirate Parties now active in over 40 countries all over the world.

“At this conference in Brussels the PPI will get the democratic legitimacy it deserves. The delegates will lay the foundation for an umbrella organization that represents every Pirate Party around the globe. This is a milestone event for the Pirate movement.” says Coreteam Co-President Jerry Weyer from Luxembourg.

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On Friday 16 April the conference will start with a tour of the European Parliament and the opening speech by Christian Engström, followed by a presentation by Dr Jason Rutter on Open Source publishing in academia. During Saturday 17 April the delegates will discuss and vote the statutes and common declaration for all Pirate Parties. The new board of the PPI will be elected on Sunday 18 April and present the results of the conference at a press conference. The press conference will take place Sunday 18 April at Rue des Ailes 3,1030 Brussels and will start at 14:00 (local time) and be open to all journalists.

For more information, contact the interim Coreteam via coreteam (at) pp-international.net or visit http://www.pirate-streaming.net/ for the live stream of the conference.