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MP3 file swappers launch political party
Thursday, August 01 2002
by Ciaran Buckley


The UK Electoral Commission has agreed to the registration of the MP3 Party,
which aims to radically simplify British government and civil administration.

The Electoral Commission had initially refused the registration on the belief
that the party's name constituted a trademark violation. 



The inspiration for the party's name is drawn from the MP3 community, who swap
digital media files on-line. "The downloading of music is not an economic
phenomenon, it is cultural and political," Party Leader Ruslan G. Fedorovsky
told ElectricNews.Net. "MP3 collectors aren't just people who want to listen to
music for free, they are part of a community."



Fedorovsky, who is the managing director of audiobooksforfree.com, said the
party's philosophy is based on the mathematical theory of complex systems, which
states that complex systems of any kind are inherently dysfunctional. Therefore
when social, legal and administrative systems reach a certain level of complexity
they cease functioning, he said. The MP3 Party wants to apply this mathematical
theory to politics and government. 



The rebellious nature of the party is inspired by the rebellious, sometimes
illegal, practice of downloading MP3s, the Russian-born Fedorovsky said. "It's
funky to be a geek and MP3 allows you to be an outlaw without knowing anything
about technology," he said. "With MP3 you can become an outlaw just by
clicking on a button."



In addition to its constituency among the MP3 community, the party hopes to
attract young voters who are apathetic with regard to old-fashioned political
processes and systems, Fedorovsky said.



The party aims to implement its simplification policy into all aspects of life in
the UK, including taxation, law, economics, foreign policy, immigration and the
monarchy. Fedorovsky said that the MP3 Party's simplification platform transcends
traditional party lines, and politicians who introduce flat taxes, or governments
that implement paperwork-reduction programmes, are already providing examples of
the MP3 Party's philosophy in action.



One of the proposed slogans for the party reads "Elect us and we will delete
one regulation per day, one law per week, one subsidy per month and one tax per
year."



Recent research does indicate the emergence of on-line communities whose
lifestyles are significantly shaped by the ability to swap content across the
Internet. A report released at the end of June by the US-based Pew Internet and
American Life Project identified what it called a "broadband lifestyle" in the
US. 



The report, entitled "The Broadband Difference - How Online Americans' Behavior
Changes with High-Speed Internet Connections at Home," found that 39 percent of
broadband users have created content such as Web sites, that 43 percent have
swapped files and displayed photos on-line and nearly two-thirds have downloaded
games, video or pictures. In all categories, at least 14 percent of these users
said they performed these activities every day.