United States Pirate Party

When Obama was campaigning in 2008, he was asked where he stood on intellectual property. His words of hope and change inspired us, like everyone else, and when he said he wanted to correct our failed intellectual property laws, we believed him. We hoped that when Obama wrote on his website,
 
"Barack Obama will protect the openness of the internet:
Obama and Biden strongly support the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. We had faith that we were going to see changes in America's stance on file sharing"
 
he truly meant a real open source community; that he meant more than changing whitehouse.gov to Drupal.
    
We now know that what we were told and what is being done are two very different things.

It has been a full year since President Obama took office, largely thanks to his charismatic posture, his talent as an orator, and most importantly his promises of change and a brighter future. However, during his time in office, he has NOT stood for an open internet. Instead, he has made every effort he can to prevent it from coming to fruition.

• In September 2009, President Obama appointed intellectual property scholar Victoria A. Espinel to be the first Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (the Copyright Czar).  The CEO of the National Music Publishers Association said, "The music publishing and songwriting industry looks forward to working with Victoria in this capacity and values the [Obama] Administration's commitment to bringing to fruition the goals of the PRO-IP Act."

• Since his election, Obama has appointed five RIAA lawyers to the justice department, even after several dozen groups pleaded with him to stop choosing individuals with blatant special interests.

• Obama's Department of Justice has supported a $1,920,000 damages judgement against Jammie Rasset-Thomas, a single mother who was convicted of illegaly sharing just 24 songs (roughly two CDs), with little-to-no evidence showing she was behind the filesharing.

• Most recently, Obama said in a town hall meeting, "one of the problems we had [under the previous administration] was insufficient protection for intellectual property rights. That is true for China ... these are issues that have to be addressed"

 
These are not just abuses against individuals. These are abuses against the development of our country and the growth of knowledge. The Pirate Party does not endorse the illegal distribution of digital media, but the President's responses to such activity go too far. We want to work with the media and software companies to develop better business models and see real, substantial progress in the United States, not more half-baked IP enforcement schemes that hurt honest consumers.
 
We hope that in President Obama's heart he supports a free and open source internet, and that big business breathing down his neck and political contributions are wh . We still feel that his message of "hope" was more than a campaign slogan, and that he is willing to work toward what the American people need. We especially hope that President Obama will not continue to fall under the sway of corporations who'd rather preserve dying business models than create real change.
 
We are one nation who stands united. We are of the people, for the people, by the people, and we are speaking out. We are tired of President Obama’s promised change that has not come to pass. We are ready for real, true progress. We've written this open letter because inspiration and innovation CAN come from the transparent and open exchange of ideas, something we thought that this administration believed in.
 
The Pirate Party calls upon President Obama to denounce egregious fines in intellectual property abuse cases. We call upon him to support an open internet, not another closed telecom network; to create real patent reform; to stand up for the American People on the other issues that affect their daily lives, including privacy, government transparency, and a truly free press. Without this groundwork of liberty, effective governance is impossible.
 
-- The Pirate Party of the United States