To cultivate the cultural aspects of my personality, I sometimes read the news including the arts criticism. Today I have stumbled upon the concept of cyberpessimism, which apparently insinuates pessimism about what the internet actually can do for democracy (or not, as it were).

I have been telling myself to update regularly, and obviously fail somewhat miserably in this endeavour.

Last week, a nice journalist from Sydsvenskan called me. He was writing an article about the inauguration of Lisbon-MEPs (I am one of them) and wanted to know how I was holding up.

I am holding up reasonably good. I have a Task, and am researching for a draft opinion on Internet of Things (COM(2009)278).

Summary:

Detailed trade agreements would appear to cause a problem insofar as they are difficult to change (not impossible, but in many cases much slower to change than say national or union legislation). Rigid legislation and difficult-to-change laws might cause a problem for enterprises operating in environments that change fast, like the ICT industry or commericial creative enterprises.

This is a bit of a long post. So here's a summary:

Yesterday I was with a journalist for the better part of the before-lunch. He was from Norwegian TV2 and was, I suppose, quite nice, even if his idea about parading in front of the parliament with a pirate flag was slightly daft. If you are a journalist and you're reading this, please don't suggest such a thing.

This is a new and exciting day. I have been sitting in the "Mickey Mouse"-bar (because it looks like Mickey Mouse, although I have come to question that: it does not look like a Mickey Mouse head) at the European parliament talking to Marina Lähteenmaa and Björn Källström from Europaparlamentet i Sverige for a while about the Lisbon treaty and the ascension of the new MEPs into the European parliament. The questions are plentyful and the answers are none.

Basically:

I am not working in Brussels. I am currently in Brussels, inside the European Parliament, with an "accredited visitor's" badge, meaning that I formally need to be accompanied by staff wherever I go. That is, I'm actually just like any ordinary citizen with the fortune of knowing people inside the walls.

The EU/Canada CETA currently under negotiation has been shown to hold many similarities, nay, "even copies of existing articles in European legislation.

Upphovsrätt är stöld

Det är hög tid att upphöra med den destruktiva distinktionen mellan orginal och kopia. Förhärligandet av orginalet är ett maktmedel upphovsrättskramarna strävar att upprätthålla med alla medel - ett hinder i vägen för en framtid med en verkligt fri och kreativ kulturproduktion. Vi behöver iställlet upprätta en ny diskurs med remixaren, inte skaparen, som samhällets kronjuvel.

Den 26-28 mars kommer Ung Pirats fjärde kongress äga rum. Till kongressen väljs ombud från hela landet för att tillsammans ta beslut om förbundets framtid. Idag lades resultatet från ombudsvalet upp på Ung Pirats forum - resultatet går att läsa här.