Temporary Pirate National Committee

Temporary Pirate National Committee

Voting: Monday 2/6 9:00 PM EST – Tuesday 2/7 6:00 PM PST

Purpose:

The Pirate National Committee (PNC) will be established to promote, support, and maintain communication & cooperation between pirate parties around the United States of America, as well as those at the international level.

A temporary steering committee will be formed to act as the USPP’s Pirate National Committee (PNC) for a period of up to six months, to be disbanded by July 3rd, 2012.

The PNC will be tasked with developing, by July 4th, 2012 (or other suitable date), an official constitution and a system for decision-making, communications tracking, accurate documentation, and sharing of information through multiple channels of communication such as social media, official websites, and wikis. To that end, it will be expected to meet the Goals and Objectives listed below.

Seats:

The PNC will be formed of a single representative from each active state organization already in existence and one ‘at-large’ member representing states that do not yet have a party. State parties that form after this document is adopted can observe and comment, but will continue to be represented by the at-large member.

Representatives will be chosen by the state organization they represent in whatever manner that state organization deems suitable. This delegate will be expected to attend the majority of USPP meetings and participate in a majority of votes. 

Those state organizations expected to be eligible for a seat as of the adoption of this proposal are as follows:

• Florida
• Georgia
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Washington
• One (1) ‘At-Large’ representative to represent all other US pirates not represented by the above state parties.

State organizations may decline a seat. These seats are not permanent and will be subject to those guidelines designated in the official constitution (See below).

Operations:

The PNC will act as a representative for the Pirate movement within the United States and delegate such responsibilities however it see fits, including the appointment of one or more spokespeople.

The PNC will also have the ability to promote the Pirate Party brand and message nationally and internationally.

The PNC will, among other things:

• Help state parties to coordinate their activities & communication;
• Acquire, utilize, and supply resources for the United States Pirate Party;
• Post and promote meetings logs;
• Document all decisions and votes;
• Support relevant committees;
• Manage media relations and produce press statements.

Limitations:

No decision or appointment of the PNC will be considered permanent; any decisions or appointments made by the PNC during this time will be suspended upon dissolution of the temporary steering committee and must be reviewed and accepted by the newly formed permanent PNC before coming back into effect. Any decisions not accepted at this time will expire immediately and any decisions not reviewed will expire by August 1st, 2012.

Objectives & Goals:

1. Establish a committee to collect all ideas and suggestions pertaining to the PNC, devise a basic and neutral structure, narrow these down to no more than 3 options per section, and arrange these in such a way that they can be voted on independently by the general membership of the US Pirate Party before the final product goes for official vote. The PNC temporary council would be responsible for monitoring and managing this committee to ensure deadlines are set and met.

2. Establish a committee to investigate the possibility of a LiquidFeedback style voting system

3. Develop a system for tracking communications and decision making, documenting this, and sharing through multiple channels of communication such as social media, official websites, and wikis.

4. Establish a committee for the purpose of managing USPP IT resources and support this committee in the publishing of a new USPP website; in addition, this committee will be expected to:

• Produce a website template and website hosting for states to use; these websites should only be used for Pirate Party activities and admins will be allowed to take action should this trust be violated.
• Manage USPP resources such as domain names, donated server space, contact lists, listservs, and information databases
• Ensure the security of personal data and Pirate websites – a security policy must be developed which covers our preventative measures against and responses to system failures, hacking, and DDoS-style attacks. as well as adheres to data protection standards.

5. Make official the USPP Press committee. This committee will be responsible for:
    a. Maintaining party-member and party-supporter comunications
    b. Developing press policy
    c. Updating and promoting a FAQ and Media answers page
    d. Responding to media requests
    f. Supporting the USPP spokespersons with information and organization