Jan. 7th 2024 PPI Board Meeting Will Be At 21:00 UTC, Review of General Assembly

Ahoy Pirates,

PPI’s first board meeting of the new board will take place on Jan. 7th, 2024 at 21:00 UTC. This board meeting will represent exactly 2 years since the last board was elected and the transition from one board to the next. Everyone is welcome to attend. The meeting will take place on Jitsi: https://jitsi.pirati.cz/PPI-Board

If anyone wants an item on the agenda, you can add it to our Discourse: https://ga.pp-international.net/c/ppiboard/31

The 2023 Winter GA is over. The minutes of the meeting are available here:
https://wiki.pp-international.net/wiki/index.php?title=PPI_Minutes_2023-12-09

The following is a summary of the main points from the meeting:
• Florie’s Resignation: Florie announced her resignation as chair of PPI. The full text of her speech can be found here.
• Gregory’s Role: Gregory took over as the meeting chair after Florie’s resignation.
• Keynote Speech by Rick Falvinge: Rick reflected on his 16-year journey with PPI since its inception. Emphasized the importance of generational shifts and continuous engagement of new members. Stressed the importance of fun within the party as a means to attract and retain members. Discussed evolving challenges like changing cultural values and conflicts. Addressed the importance of leadership and the need to adapt to technological changes, especially AI.
• PPI’s Global Role: PPI has representatives at the UN focusing on issues like AI, internet criminal use, and NGO collaboration.
• PPI is working on adapting to modern communication tools like Discord and Discourse.
• Discussions were held about possibly relocating PPI’s headquarters from Brussels.
• PPI’s Financial & Organizational Updates: Concerns were raised about membership fees and the payment of invoices.
• The board discussed the possibility of establishing a Communications Group for regular social media content.
• Discussions were held regarding PPI’s status in Switzerland and potential tax implications.
• Topics like copyright reform, AI’s impact, and international collaboration were widely discussed.
The assembly covered a range of topics, from PPI’s organizational changes to global political challenges.
• Events & Meetings: PPI members attended the UNODC Cybercrime Convention in New York and the Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto. Other updates included UN meetings by Carlos Polo, Raman Ojha’s update on COP28, and plans to register PPI with UNFCCC. Discussions took place on the Rules of Procedure, membership applications from UK and Australia Pirate Parties, and the relocation of PPI HQ.
• Organizational Updates: The board discussed forming working groups on development, design, social media, and artificial intelligence. They also considered a joint SCENE meeting with USPP but haven’t scheduled it yet. Recognition was given to Bailey and Miles for an article in Democracy Technologies.
• Tech Report: Bastian reported on maintaining PPI’s technology, addressing server attacks, and resolving a communication issue with Google’s mail servers. There were unauthorized changes to their Discourse instance, but the situation was rectified.
• Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer, in their first year, shared challenges faced in handling the role. They discussed difficulties accessing bank statements, detailing the financial situation, including accounts in Swiss Francs, Euros, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. The Treasurer expressed challenges in collecting membership fees and hopes for improved financial planning in the future.
• Budget & Financial Discussions: The budget proposal was discussed, with points raised about membership fee billing, organizational risk, and clarifications on specific expenses. The budget for the year was eventually accepted.
• New Member Applications: The Pirate Party Australia applied for membership, detailing their history, membership count, electoral policies, and alignment with PPI statutes. They expressed their support for the international pirate community and sought to collaborate with other Pirate Parties.
• Lucy from the new Pirate Party UK (PPUK) expressed their intention to apply for observer membership. Lucy highlighted that they are not fully established yet and hence are seeking observer membership. PPUK’s policy focuses include copyright reform, trans rights, privacy, and they aim to promote an internet blackout day. Lucy mentioned her connection to the old Pirate Party, stating they have evidence of the old party’s support. The motion to accept PPUK as an observer member of PPI passed unanimously with 8.5 votes. Bastian offered support to PPUK, even securing a domain for them.
• An issue was discussed concerning the old Pirate Party of Slovakia. They faced challenges due to another party using a similar name and collecting fees unlawfully.
• There was a mention of possible policy statements at global forums like the UN.
• Various elections for board members and other positions were conducted, with candidates presenting their backgrounds and intentions. Gregory Engels was elected as the chair of PPI. Keith Goldstein was elected as the Vice-Chairperson, Mlemt and V were elected as board members, CoA , and lay auditors were also elected.
• Revocation of Cedric Levieux’s Membership: Mike Gill, on behalf of PPCZ, submitted a motion to investigate Cedric Levieux’s unilateral act of revoking administrator and moderator privileges from the PPI Discourse server in Spring 2023. The motion required one-fifth of the voting power to pass. A summary of events leading to this motion was provided, indicating the disruption caused and subsequent resolution.
• Working Groups’ Updates: Updates were provided regarding activities at the UN, meetings attended, and a call for member involvement in lobbying work. Specific details were shared about the SCENE V group and its planned activities.
• Any Other Business: Discussions revolved around policy statements at global forums, with mentions of AI Safety, climate change, and other public statements.
• A motion to adopt a declaration reaffirming commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was passed.
• Collaboration opportunities with NGOs, including Effective Altruism, Knowledge Ecology International, and Creative Commons, were discussed.
• PPI E-Democracy: The potential establishment of a PPI Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) was revisited, with a suggestion to map out different platforms for potential use.
• Revision of Board Member Status: A proposal was introduced to modify the PPI Board structure to consist of one member from each party, eliminating the need for board member voting. This proposal will be discussed further with the GA, but some of the members indicated that they preferred a smaller board.