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Re:EU DSA: Industry and government interests prevail over ci... by inglor_cz on Saturday April 23, 2022 @08:20AM (#31133654)
The Czech Pirate Party, now in government, has basically abandoned its focus on digital topics and concentrates on power, lawmaking and who is going to get which seat on what ministry.

A huge disappointment. Their once-core positions are now good for lip service only. Even the Pirate Party Forum (an open discussion forum) is now basically concentrated on power politics and discussions about such important agendas have atrophied.

Re:EU DSA: Industry and government interests prevail over ci... by mlinksva on Saturday April 23, 2022 @03:29PM (#31137598)
Do you have a recommendation of where I could read more about how the Czech Pirate Party has done in government, either national or local (eg mayor of Prague)? I don't see anything skimming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Pirate_Party and very little reading the Czech version autotranslated.

I'm under the impression that at least one of their MEPs (Marcel Kolaja; edit: indeed, quoted in the article which I hadn't read before commenting, shame on me!) does substantial work on digital issues, but I guess the incentives faced by MEPs are very different from those in national or local office. Is that right?

Re:EU DSA: Industry and government interests prevail over ci... by inglor_cz on Sunday April 24, 2022 @04:45AM (#31142285)
Kolaja is pretty much the last one standing that is still interested in digital rights. Unfortunately the MEPs aren't that important in the party (any party): spending a lot of time in Brussels means being far away from the local headquarters, where the real decisions are being made.

For an impression of how the party is ticking now, just register in their phpBB run forum: forum.pirati.cz and run the discussions through the automatic translator.

I cannot recommend any truly neutral sources about people like mayor of Prague. There is an election coming soon, he will likely lose his seat. One of the reasons is that cost of living has gone through the roof. Many people move to Prague, but almost no new housing is being built. The prices are 2,5x as high as ten years ago. People draw unfavorable comparisons to Warsaw, which is very dynamic and at the time still affordable to the middle class.

Re:EU DSA: Industry and government interests prevail over ci... by kmeisthax on Sunday April 24, 2022 @12:41AM (#31141354)
Well yeah, that's how politics works. When you are elected, you are a power broker.

Most single-issue parties fail precisely because they don't want to broker power, they just want to get the one thing they're angry about out of the way. Most people are expecting the party they vote for to have an answer on every issue imaginable, and merely shrugging your shoulders and saying "I was elected to legalize copyright infringement, not to decide what our external immigration policy should be" is not an option. If you don't play power broker, you do not get your agenda done.

Re:EU DSA: Industry and government interests prevail over ci... by inglor_cz on Sunday April 24, 2022 @04:48AM (#31142299)
You're right, but up to a point. If you concentrate on power for power's sake and stop upholding your original political ideas, you will lose support.

There is a fine balance between Realpolitik and idealism. Ideally, you do not want to go full tilt in either direction.