The Czech Pirate Party (ČPS) has launched a new website that mimics the look of Seznam.cz, the country’s leading search engine page, in a bid to stimulate debate about copyright in the digital environment and on the Internet.
The site Pirati.cz, which will serve as the party’s new homepage, works on the same principle as the wikis – anyone can contribute and edit content.
“Pirates are playful people, and because we liked the [Seznam.cz] layout and it was suitable for our purposes, we used it,” ČPS vice chairman Mikuláš Ferjenčík said in a statement. “No one can have a monopoly on the layout of a site or use of a color.” ‘Pirates are playful people, and because we liked the layout and it was suitable for our purposes, we used it.’
The nascent Pirati.cz site lets users search the party’s statues, program and regional organization and links to videos and conferences that its representatives have attended or participated in.
“We will [also] try to further develop the concept of party policy on the wiki principle. That means using enthusiastic volunteers, enabling each to be involved and everything to be fully open to the public,” Ferjenčík said.
The ČPS, based on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party, received 0.8 percent of the vote in the May 2010 general elections. In December 2010, it launched its own national whistle-blowing site similar to WikiLeaks called PirateLeaks.
