Pirate Party seeks candidates to run for office

BOSTON (AP) — The Pirate Party is looking for a few good candidates for elected office — eye patches and parrots not required.

Still on the fringes of the political spectrum in the U.S. and most other places, the movement that claims chapters in nearly 70 countries has registered a handful of successes, including in Iceland where the party won several seats in parliamentary elections last fall.

On Saturday, the 5-year-old Pirate Party of Massachusetts plans to hold its annual conference in Boston to discuss issues ranging from personal privacy and "open culture" to increased government transparency.

The party's national platform calls for the abolition of patents — which it argues stifles innovation and prevents researchers from freely sharing ideas — and for limiting how long copyrights can stay in effect, saying there needs to be new models to compensate artists and others for their intellectual and creative work.

The platform seeks a ban on Digital Rights Management software that is often used to block or limit online access to copyrighted material or other intellectual property.

While advocating for internet users to freely and legally share music, movies and other forms of art, the party — despite its name — discourages use of the term "digital piracy."

One immediate goal: Find candidates to campaign under the Pirate Party flag.

"We're trying to get our message out there and train people to run," said Massachusetts Pirate Party Captain — or chairman — James O'Keefe.