On April 14th and 15th the Pirate Parties International General Assembly (PPI GA) was held in Prague. Representatives from 28 countries decided on the future of the PPI, the international umbrella organisation of Pirate Parties.

During the conference, participants drafted and signed a declaration regarding the upcoming European Electionsin 2014. Pirate Parties will participate in the European Elections, include a common programme into their individual programmes and will form a political party at European Union level. As of now, the declaration was signed by Pirates from 19 different pirate parties (DE, CZ, IT, PL, LU, BE, LV, FR, EE, FI, RO, RS, UK, ES, SI, SK, SE, CAT, PT), including famous pirate MEP Amelia Andersdotter from Sweden. [1] Individual Pirate Parties are invited to ratify the declaration in the following months.

Also, some delegates decided to support the initiative started by the Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir for endorsing Bradley Manning, who is detained for releasing documents to wikileaks which lead to the Arab Spring, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Furthermore; the Pirate Parties of Greece and Croatia have been welcomed as new full members and Pirate Parties of Florida and Lower Saxony as observer members of PPI. The assembly also decided to upgrade the membership status of the Pirate Party of Catalonia from observer to full membership.

Besides discussions on the future of the Pirate movement a new PPI board was elected. Gregory Engels, elected Co-Chairman, wants to initiate regional meetings and an international congress on patents during the coming year. «Having more oportunities for interaction will speed up the growth of the pirate parties movement in more regions like Latin and North Americas» so he says.
Lola Voronia, Co-Chairwoman of PPI, says: «We also plan to host the first online General Assembly of PPI. This way even more Pirates from all continents can participate in the framing of future international cooperation of Pirate Parties.»

The board, the executive of PPI, was newly elected. The Co-Chairpersons are Lola Voronina (Russia, 28y) and Gregory Engels (Germany, 35y). Also aboard are Travis McCrea (US, 22y), Ed Geraghty (UK, 24y), Jelena Jovanovic (Serbia, 35y), Nuno Cardoso (Portugal, 38y) and Denis Simonet (Switzerland, 27y).

A highlight of the conference were the speeches by
Amelia Andersdotter (Pirate Party Sweden Member of European Parliament)
Laurence Vandewalle (Political advisor at European Parliament for the Greens/EFA group)
Cory Doctorow (Writer, blogger, journalist, co-editor of Boing Boing and well known anti-copying-monopoly fighter) [2]
Fabio Reinhardt (Pirate Party Member of Berlin Parliament) [3]
Rick Falkvinge (founder of the first Pirate Party in Sweden) [4]


[1] https://piratenpad.de/p/ppeuprogram
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-jbe4gBbLw&feature=plcp&context=C4ba80eeVDvjVQa1PpcFPBuf1pcegdS4JEjCZnR4TRkJNf0K9ADI0%3D
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4LoJa7cu-I&list=UURltydLLPItnRicHmYUCeSg&index=2&feature=plcp
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4LoJa7cu-I&list=UURltydLLPItnRicHmYUCeSg&index=2&feature=plcp

On April 14th and 15th Prague will be the capital of Pirate Parties. Representatives from more than 20 countries will meet for the Pirate Parties International (PPI) General Aseembly 2012 in Czech Republic.

During this conference, the General Assembly - the highest body of the PPI - will decide upon the admittance of new members to the PPI, elect a new board and discuss and vote on amendments to the PPI statutes. In addition there will be an open space and a parallel session for discussions about the forming of a Pirate Party Europe/EU.

Ivan Bartos, Chairman of the organizing Czech Pirate Party, says: "This is one of the most important Pirates meetings in a year. We are proud that we can host it in Prague. Pirates from all over the world will be able to address the challenges of the twenty-first century for which other political parties only living in the analog world look for answers in vain."

The highlight of the conference will be the speeches by
Amelia Andersdotter (Pirate Party Sweden Member of European Parliament),
Laurence Vandewalle (Political advisor at European Parliament for the Greens/EFA group),
Cory Doctorow (Writer, blogger, journalist, co-editor of Boing Boing and well known anti-copying-monopoly fighter),
Fabio Reinhardt (Pirate Party Member of Berlin Parliament),
Rick Falkvinge (founder of the first Pirate Party in Sweden).

"The Pirate movement is spreading rapidly - there are currently Pirate Parties in nearly 50 countries all over the world. Pirate Parties are more than national political actors, we are a global political and social movement!" says Lola Voronina, Chief Administrative Officer of PPI. "The PPI conference 2012 is the perfect opportunity to prepare future international campaigns and exchange Pirate ideas. After all - 'Sharing is caring!"

Interested persons can follow the PPI conference via live stream at pirate-streaming.net

Representatives of the press are welcome to join the conference. Please register as "Press" at ppiga.pirati.cz. The timetable and further information about the conference can be found in the wiki.

For questions about the PPI Conference 2012 please contact
Lola Voronina, Chief Administrative Officer, Pirate Parties International, +420 608 504 570
Mikulas Ferjencik, Vice-President, Czech Pirate Party, +420 737 943 770
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The Pirate Parties International (abbreviated PPI) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that exists to help establish, to support and promote, and to maintain communication and co-operation between Pirate Parties around the world. It was officially founded in 2010 during the Brussels conference from April 16th to 18th.

http://www.pp-international.net/

We would like to invite you to the 2012 Pirate Parties International conference which will be held on April 14th and 15th in Prague, Czech Republic.

During this conference, the General Assembly - the highest body of the PPI - will decide upon the admittance of new members to the PPI, elect a new board and discuss and vote on amendments to the PPI statutes. In addition there will be an open space and a parallel session for Pirate Party Europe/EU discussions.
Speeches will be given by Amelia Andersdotter, Swedish Pirate Party's Member of the European Parliament, and Laurence Vandewalle, Policy advisor on telecommunications and free culture from Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament. Saturday's program will be closed with a keynote address by Cory Doctorow, blogger, journalist and well known anti-copying-monopoly fighter.
The preliminary timetable can be found at the end of this message.

Each PPI member can register up to 6 persons as official delegates (PPI Statutes IX.4), but all Pirates and interested persons are very welcome to join as guests.

To register for the conference, please visit https://ppiga.pirati.cz.

The participation fee is 25€ (35€ after April 1st). As the PPI collects no membership fees, the organizing committee relies on participation fees and donations to organize the event. We ask every participant to transfer the participation fee as soon as possible. You can use either a bank account transfer to CZ6020100000002700074034, a paypal transfer to paypal@ceskapiratskastrana.cz or you can pay with Bitcoins (to do so, check the apropriate box in the registration form and then follow the instructions). Don't forget to add a note stating your name and that it is a participation fee. In exceptional cases where the participation fee is an insurmountable obstacle to participate in the conference, interested persons can contact the board at board@pp-international.net and we will try to find a sponsor so that you may participate in the conference.

The official sessions of the General Assembly will be streamed. Remote participation will be possible. Detailed instructions will be sent to you as soon as possible. Remote participants should also register at the aforementioned location but do not have to pay the participation fee.

Each member is permitted to submit amendments to the PPI statutes. To submit your proposals please use this form or send an e-mail to the board. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 16th 2011, 23:59 CET.

The General Assembly will also elect a new board of the PPI. Candidates shall submit their application on the wiki or e-mail their application to the board.

If you are not yet a member of PPI but want to join you can apply for membership following the procedure described on this page.

If you need an official invitation for visa purposes, addressed personally to you, please e-mail your contact details and necessary information as soon as possible to the board. We will then send to you (or to the Czech consulate if this is required in your country) a formal invitation.

For further information concerning the 2012 PPI conference you can visit this page or contact the board.

Kind regards,

the board of the PPI

==
Preliminary timetable:

Friday April 13th
19.00 - Social event

Saturday April 14th
08.30 - Registration
09.00 - Opening of the conference
10.00 - Ordinary and observer membership applications
11.30 - Start of Open Space Day 1 (all day parallel to speeches/keynotes/sessions)
12.00 - Speech by Amelia Andersdotter
12.30 - Lunch
14:00 - Speech by Laurence Vandewalle
15.00 - Pirate Party Europe/EU session
16.00 - Keynote address by Cory Doctorow
16.30 - Pirate Party Europe/EU session & Open Space Day 1 (cont.)
18.00 - End of Day 1
20.00 - Social event

Sunday April 15th
08.30 - Start of Day 2
09.00 - Reports by the Board of the PPI
10.00 - Elections
* Board elections (Co-chairmen, CAO, Treasurer, board members)
* Court of Arbitration elections
* Lay auditors elections
12.30 - Lunch
14:00 keynote by Fabio Reinhardt (Berlin pirates)
14:30 - Motions and statutes amendments
14:30 - Start of Open Space Day 2 (parallel to motions and statute amendments)
17:00 - Closing keynote by Rick Falkvinge
18.00 - End of Day 2

The detailed timetable can be found here.

==
Bank account for transferring participation fees:
CZ6020100000002700074034

Fio banka, a.s., V Celnici 1028/10, Praha 1
BIC code/SWIFT is: FIOBCZPPXXX