SPIEGEL ONLINE
- May 13, 2013
"We will definitely be voted into federal parliament. I can do nothing to change that." Thus spoke Johannes Ponader, a top member of Germany's Pirate Party one year ago. It turns out, he may have been mistaken. In the last 12 months, the party has seen its support plummet -- to below the 5 percent necessary for seats in the Bundestag. And this weekend, the Pirates tried to finally turn their ship around.
By Charles Hawley more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- April 19, 2013
A special Internet and Digital Society Commission convened by parliament has released several hundred recommendations for addressing data protection and other Internet-related issues in Germany. Chief among them: establishing a permanent Internet commissioner. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 07, 2013
What a difference a year makes. In April 2012, Germany's Pirate Party was the new darling of the political scene, the center of attention in Berlin and the object of adulation among (male) twenty-somethings. Now, however, the Pirates look as though they have lost their treasure map, having become
, backstabbing and a lack of direction. And on Wednesday evening, the party's chief policymaker, Johannes Ponader, resigned as a result.
consumed with internal bickering By Charles Hawley more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- February 21, 2013
Germany's Pirate Party is falling apart. Instead of finally beginning work on their election platform, leaders of the Internet-freedom party are fighting among themselves instead. By SPIEGEL Staff
more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- January 20, 2013
Germany's Pirate Party suffered its first setback at the ballot box on Sunday in Lower Saxony since its breakthrough in national politics in 2011. Its paltry 2.1 percent showing at the polls could kill its effort to gain seats in the federal parliament. By Fabian Reinbold in Hanover more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- January 18, 2013
Voters in the state of Lower Saxony are heading to the polls on Sunday in a neck-and-neck vote that has profound implications for general elections later this year. The center-left Social Democrats are particularly apprehensive. more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- October 25, 2012
As national elections approach next year, Germany's Pirate Party can't explain what its positions really are. Its representatives in state parliaments prefer to focus on technical issues and themselves, while party leaders are withdrawing from the forefront. Voters, in the meantime, are turning away from the party. more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- September 20, 2012
Senior Pirate Party politician Julia Schramm made headlines this week when her publisher took action against pirated copies of her book "Click Me." Now Schramm is at the center of a shitstorm over her wavering positions on intellectual property. Both the tabloid press and members of her own party accuse her of hypocrisy. By Fabian Reinbold more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- September 18, 2012
Encouraging free sharing of files on the Internet, including copyrighted material, is an official platform of Germany's Pirate Party. This week, however, a senior member of the party has been policing illegal downloads of a book she published through a subsidiary of Random House. Will the party continue to promote its "information must be free" line? more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- August 24, 2012
Just a few months ago, the Pirate Party was the enfant terrible of Germany's political landscape, climbing rapidly in the polls. But a new survey released Friday finds that its support has dropped by more than half. While the party plays down its problems, experts now warn it may fail in its goal of securing seats in the national parliament in next year's election. By Annett Meiritz more...
