The United States Pirate Party (USPP) is an American political party founded in 2006 by Brent Allison and Alex English.Milchman, El
"The Pirates Hold a Party"
''

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...

'', 2006-06-20. Retrieved on 2009-02-20, The party's platform is aligned with the global Pirate movement, and supports reform of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

laws to reflect

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

and

free culture The free-culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify the creative works of others in the form of free content, otherwise known as open content. They encourage creators to create such content by using ...

values,

government transparency Open government is the governing doctrine which maintains that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state a ...

, protection of

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

. The United States Pirate Party also advocates for

evidence-based policy Evidence-based policy (also known as evidence-informed policy or evidence-based governance) is a concept in public policy that advocates for policy decisions to be grounded on, or influenced by, rigorously established objective evidence. This c ...

egalitarianism Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than ...

and the

hacker ethic The hacker ethic is a philosophy and set of moral values within hacker culture. Practitioners believe that sharing information and data with others is an ethical imperative. The hacker ethic is related to the concept of freedom of information ...

as well as the rolling back of

corporate personhood Corporate personhood or juridical personality is the legal notion that a juridical person such as a corporation, separately from its associated human beings (like owners, managers, or employees), has at least some of the legal rights and respon ...

and

corporate welfare Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...

. The USPP has also made a priority to advocate for changes in the copyright laws and removal of

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

. It is the belief of the party that these restrictions greatly hinder the sharing and expansion of knowledge and resources. The party's national organization has existed in multiple incarnations since its 2006 founding. Its most recent is the Pirate National Committee (PNC), formed in 2012 as a coalition of state parties. The PNC officially recognizes Pirate parties from 10 states, and tracks and assists in the growth of more state parties throughout the United States. The board of the USPP is the board of the PNC. The chair of the Pirate National Committee is known as the "Captain". The current Captain is Drew Bingaman.

History

The Pirate Party was founded in June 2006 by

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

graduate student Brent Allison in response to the success of the Swedish

Pirate Party Pirate Party is a label adopted by various Political party, political parties worldwide that share a set of values and policies focused on Civil and political rights, civil rights in the digital age. The fundamental principles of Pirate Partie ...

. Its platform was focused primarily on

reform and freedom from

Internet censorship Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains (such as ''Wikipedia.org'', for example) but exceptionally may ...

. The party first attempted to register in Utah during the 2007/2008 election cycle and failed to collect the required number of Statements of Support.Cheng, Jacqu
"US Pirate Party seeks legitimacy, starts in Utah"

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

, 2007-08-09. Retrieved on 2009-02-20. In 2011, the Massachusetts Pirate Party became the first legally recognized Pirate Party in the US. By 2011, the Pirate Party reported over 3,000 members nationwide.Downie, James (2011-01-24
Avast Network
''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' In 2012, a coalition of state Pirate parties formed the Pirate National Committee (PNC). By July of that year, the PNC drafted and adopted a new constitution, which outlined a broader ideology inspired by

Rick Falkvinge Rick Falkvinge (born Dick Greger Augustsson, 21 January 1972) is a Swedish politician who founded the Pirate Party, serving as its leader until 2011. Early life and career Falkvinge grew up in Ruddalen, Gothenburg, and studied Natural Scie ...

's Pirate Wheel.Falkvinge, Ric
"The Pirate Wheel"
Falkvinge on Infopolicy. Retrieved on 2012-08-19. In 2015,

Massachusetts Pirate Party The Massachusetts Pirate Party (MassPirates) is the Massachusetts affiliate of the United States Pirate Party and a political designation in Massachusetts officially recognized by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Massach ...

Quartermaster Steve Revilak became the first pirate in the United States to be elected to office, elected to

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

town meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...

. On July 2, 2022, the United States Pirate Party became a member of the

Pirate Parties International Pirate Parties International (PPI) is an Political international, international Nonprofit organization, non-profit and non-governmental organization with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Formed in 2010, it serves as a worldwide organizati ...

, an umbrella organization, comprising 31 parties all over the world at the time of the USPP's admission. Ethan Osborne, captain of the Kentucky Pirate Party, ran for Congress in

Kentucky's 4th congressional district Kentucky's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located in the northeastern portion of the state, it is a long district that follows the Ohio River. However, the district is dominated by its far ...

during the

2022 United States House of Representatives elections The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during President Joe Biden's term. Representatives were elected from all 435 U.S. congressional districts ac ...

, finishing in 3rd place with over 10,000 votes or 3.9%. This is the largest number of votes for a Pirate candidate in US history as of 2022. Party members voted to endorse the 2024

Vermin Supreme Vermin Love Supreme (born June 1, 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a novelty candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States. He served as a member of the Libertarian Party (Unit ...

presidential campaign during their national convention in

Bensenville, Illinois Bensenville is a village located near O'Hare International Airport in DuPage County, Illinois, with a portion of the town in Cook County. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 18,813. First known as Tioga, it was formally establishe ...

, which took place from June 1 to June 2.

Name

The Pirate Party defends their oft-criticized name in the preamble of the PNC's constitution:

Ideology

Factions within the Pirate Party include

left-libertarians Left-libertarianism, also known as left-wing libertarianism, is a political philosophy and type of libertarianism that stresses both individual freedom and social equality. Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to ...

, classical liberals,

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

progressives Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...

, and radical centrists. Many Pirates explicitly decline to identify with any particular political ideology or philosophy. These more ideologically unaffiliated members of the party have expressed their concerns to instead "do what works" rather than be driven by a particular ideology. The Pirate Party's platform originally centered on issues of copyright. "Like its international counterparts, the USPP's main practical concerns are digital

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

and

privacy law Privacy law is a set of regulations that govern the collection, storage, and utilization of personal information from healthcare, governments, companies, public or private entities, or individuals. Privacy laws are examined in relation to an ind ...

s—specifically, the abolition of a 1998 digital U.S. copyright law, the reduction of copyrights to 14 years (from 95 years after publication, or 70 years after the author's death), and the expiration of patents that don't result in significant progress within four years (as opposed to 20 years)." In 2012, the party began an expansion of its platform, inspired by the Pirate Wheel. The party emphasizes the cultural values of the

and

, strong protection of individual

, participatory governance, and

. It solidified these tenets by publishing a series of essays in January 2012 where it voiced its values using quotations from historical figures, including

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

("They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety"),

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

("Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet"),

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

("The only way to deal with an un-free world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion") and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

("Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty") in order to highlight the timelessness, urgency, and consensual agreement on its positions related to free culture.

PNC

Captain

Before 2012, the chairman of the party was elected every July by a membership vote, as established in the party constitution. After the 2012 formation of the PNC, the role's name was changed to captain. Norton stepped down mid-term to head up

. Kerbein, as operations officer, stepped into the position for the rest of the term. Martin was removed via a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

on December 29, 2009. Hall was selected as administrator

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...

for a 30-day period until elections could be held. See Wikinews interview with Peter Coti. Norton resigned in order to have more time to devote to other interests.Andrew Norton Resigns as USPP Chair
, 08 February 2016 Onoroski was removed via a

on November 25, 2019. Gorski was elected Captain

. Jay resigned on August 6, 2023, elevating Vice Chair Drew Bingaman to acting Captain

. Elevated officially to Captain on September 3, 2023.

Officers

* Chair – Drew Bingaman * Vice Chair – Ty Clifford * Treasurer – Darren Mckeeman * Secretary – Michael Cadwallader * State Moderator - Rose Klein * Auditor – Dustin Etts * Swarmcare Manager – Sarai “Sopphey ance” Oviedo * Director of the Online - Jamie O'Keefe * Director of Public Relations - Eli McGee

State parties

References

External links

Official Website

Official USPP Wiki
{{Pan-Americanism Pirate parties Political parties in the United States Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in the United States Pan-Americanism