not a Party Party treat, Internet Party instead?

Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, January 16th, 2014 - 57 comments
Categories: Media, Politics - Tags: ,

But it looks like the ever expanding party party treat (aka KDC birthday that we have been advertising all week) has been cancelled. Now we are promised a political party instead.

Confused? I’m not. I have no idea if it was all a stunt… I suspect not.

My bet is that this is what happens when you have people not thinking about what a political party needs to do to be organised. The word “amateur” comes to mind. On the other hand 25 thousand email addresses is pretty good going. Privacy commission anyone?

TICKETHOLDERS-THE-PARTY-PARTY-CANCELLED-1

However I think it is going to be interesting finding out how well our talking heads on TV manage to explain basic electoral law…. Usually they suck at the task.

57 comments on “not a Party Party treat, Internet Party instead? ”

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  1. tinfoilhat 1
    16 January 2014 at 4:39 pm

    I wouldn’t go calling Martyn Bradbury an amateur if I was you, he’ll go all feral on you over at his vanity project.

    • Psycho Milt 1.1
      16 January 2014 at 4:42 pm

      Well, he was trying to not be an amateur – in the sense that he was asking for money, rather than in the professionalism of his approach to the task…

    • lprent 1.2
      16 January 2014 at 4:53 pm

      …he’ll go all feral on you….

      That would be amusing for me, pretty pointless, and has an element for danger for him. I tend to go into vendetta mode for a few decades when sufficiently irritated.

      But I have to say that the simplest way to deal with it would have to have simply required that guests donated any kind of sum. Say $2 – the same as the National party membership.

  2. One Anonymous Knucklehead 2
    16 January 2014 at 4:42 pm

    +1

  3. TightyRighty 3
    16 January 2014 at 4:57 pm

    bomber is hardly a very, very special guest. maybe that’s why it was cancelled?

    • Arfamo 3.1
      16 January 2014 at 5:10 pm

      How’d he end up being called “Bomber”? The only other person who ever got that handle that I know of (apart from the Auf Wiedersehen actor) was a bloke whose “bombs away” used to prevent everyone not wearing a gas mask from using the toilets for at least the next 20 minutes.

      • Shrubbery 3.1.1
        16 January 2014 at 5:13 pm

        Maybe Bomber is secretly this guy: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Bomber

      • Naturesong 3.1.2
        16 January 2014 at 5:40 pm

        I always thought it was because he tends to be bombastic.

        Anyone actually know how it came about?

        • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 3.1.2.1
          16 January 2014 at 6:05 pm

          You appear to be correct there Naturesong -I just read the Wikipedia page on him and that is what it says about his nickname.

          link:

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_%22Bomber%22_Bradbury#Television

        • TightyRighty 3.1.2.2
          17 January 2014 at 8:52 am

          it’s because everything he touches bombs.

          Like getting into bed with an overseas millionaire just because they don’t like national as well. strange, who was banging on about overseas bagmen owning national the loudest?

          • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 3.1.2.2.1
            17 January 2014 at 12:38 pm

            National appear to have been following the commands of people living overseas for overseas big money interests that run roughshod over the interests of people living in NZ.

            I remain unaware of what or whose interests the Internet Party represents – considering KDC – a person whose adopted home is NZ – is clearly in direct conflict with the big money interests that John Key salivates over and tramples on NZ interests to meet – one can have a good guess that KDC is not ‘jumping into bed’ with the same questionable interests that Bradbury has objected to regarding Key&co inc.

            Of course KDC may turn out to be ‘just another businessman’ aggressively pursuing his own self interest at the expense of others – however, so far he appears to have made a number of lucid points to the NZ public and elsewhere that assert our interests – and has achieved stronger statements that some of our own politicians appear to able to achieve -and this affords him the benefit of the doubt from this quarter. Final conclusions are pending.

  4. chris73 4
    16 January 2014 at 5:12 pm

    Something about paying peanuts and monkeys springs to mind

  5. Ad 5
    16 January 2014 at 5:25 pm

    So the party is cancelled 72 hours before it begins.

    If this were a commercial enterprise we would be requiring our money back. Instead we get that sour taste of political hope turned dead.

    Whoever was giving ‘strategic advice’ that the opening party did not represent treating needs to be fired. Ooops another own goal by Bomber and friends.

    Anyone who registered with their details: hey you just got harvested! Congratulations suckers – your address just got owned and received nada in return.

    The Fat German is as coy and cunning as Colin Craig.

    Watch this guy people – he’s beginning to be NZ’s own 2014 political shooting star: pretty to watch, explosive even, but destined to burn out fast rather than find an orbit.

    • Colonial Viper 5.1
      16 January 2014 at 8:42 pm

      Too much money to spend on the project risks meaning clumsy and thoughtless execution with the idea that lots of dollars will somehow compensate. No it won’t.

  6. Jimmie 6
    16 January 2014 at 5:30 pm

    I would have thought that Graeme Edglar would have been able to advise KDC on the ins and outs of the electoral law………..was he MIA?

  7. blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 7
    16 January 2014 at 5:49 pm

    I have no idea what this Internet party is about and am waiting on information from that party before I make any assessment however….as I understand it Kim Dot Com is the driving force behind this Party – not Bomber –

    And in response to the bitchy comments posted on this thread by left-wing inclined people re Bomber – how easily we get divided – yep, Bomber managed that quite nicely himself not so long ago, however I wish to remind those of you on the left that Bomber has been making a lot more effort and achieving more success than many in getting left-wing principles out into the general public. I would estimate him to be quite a threat to the establishment – by the way he got canned from Radio NZ or whatever radio station it was.

    It has been a fair desert with regards to left wing information in our media sources since Nat took over and yet he managed two programmes on TV before that channel got canned (my, my this government really doesn’t want any competing views, now does it?). Bomber has also managed to set up a website which allows for more people to read left wing perception on current issues.

    So perhaps his style isn’t to everyone’s liking, however, I do imagine he has opened a fair few people, especially the younger generation, to the concept that politics is relevant, that left wing politics are relevant, and that all is not tickety-boo with how this country is being run.

    So how about taking time to attack the real enemies to our interests and stop helping this incredibly incompetent, destructive and sell-out of a government (and business round table freaks) conduct a free-for-all on this what-used-to-be decent country.

  8. SHG (not Colonial Viper) 8
    16 January 2014 at 6:30 pm

    Muppet Party. By muppets, for muppets.

  10. Yoza 10
    16 January 2014 at 7:03 pm

    I posted something similar over on Kiwiblog, but it looks like the Electoral Commission shut down the Internet Party launch after coming under pressure from the Labour/National coalition. 25000 registering to attend a political rally must have scared the crap out of our social managers who, as Chris Trotter points out, are committed to ensuring vast swathes of the electorate are effectively marginalised from decision making processors.

    It is interesting to note that the closing down of the Internet Party launch is being celebrated with equal enthusiasm on both The Standard and Kiwiblog

    • lprent 10.1
      16 January 2014 at 7:22 pm

      I’m not celebrating it. I’m writing an opinion on how amateurish I found having advertising for a birthday party which runs directly into a potential legal conflict with the formation of a still un (officially) announced political party.

      Personally, I’d have been quite interested in turning up at the birthday party. And under the directions of my other half, I snaffled the VIP tickets that turned up in The Standard’s mailbox (we tend to get comps when we’ve been advertising for some events – I usually give them away).

      • Yoza 10.1.1
        16 January 2014 at 10:22 pm

        lprent 10.1
        16 January 2014 at 7:22 pm

        I’m not celebrating it. I’m writing an opinion on how amateurish I found having advertising for a birthday party which runs directly into a potential legal conflict with the formation of a still un (officially) announced political party.

        So after the Electoral Commission has finished with them they should have to deal with the Privacy Commission.

        On the other hand 25 thousand email addresses is pretty good going. Privacy commission anyone?

        You really cannot see the glee expressed in your post at the failure of those involved in the Internet Party launch?

        • fisiani 10.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 8:39 am

          Privacy legislation states that email addresses garnered for one purpose must not be used for another purpose. Thus email addresses obtained for a birthday party cannot be used for garnering support for a political party. Equally email addressess on a petition cannot be used by a political party without breaching privacy rules. None of the above however will bother KDC or the Greens who will simply ignore the privacy rules assuming that any punishment will be a token one if any.

          • veutoviper 10.1.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 10:31 am

            See my comment at 17 below, fisiani.

            Registration for free tickets to the PartyParty was through Eventfinda – not directly to Dotcom.

            Therefore, presumably Eventfinda – not Dotcom – would be first in line for any punishment for any breaches of privacy legislation, including using (or providing) names, email addresses etc for any other purpose than attendance at the PartyParty. In light of the nature of their business, I cannot see Eventfinda risking this in respect of information garnered from the PartyParty registration process, or from any of the many other events they ticket. It would potentially result in the end of the business.

            Links to Eventfinda’s Privacy Policy and Terms and conditions of business are at 17.

        • TightyRighty 10.1.1.2
          17 January 2014 at 9:02 am

          you took your tinfoil hat off for one minute to come on the grid and tell all that the party was shut down by Labour / National? think about that for a minute.

    • Arfamo 10.2
      16 January 2014 at 7:46 pm

      It is interesting to note that the closing down of the Internet Party launch is being celebrated with equal enthusiasm on both The Standard and Kiwiblog

      Yes I think that’s interesting too. “What can it mean?”, I ask myself. “I don’t know, maybe that people of both the “left” and “right” and “dunno wot I am” persuasions who post on blogs are a bit dubious about Dotcom’s party because it’s all rather bizarre at the moment”, I answer myself.

      • SHG (not Colonial Viper) 10.2.1
        16 January 2014 at 8:04 pm

        Because Bomber is a hypocritical money-grubbing whore who has rightly earned the contempt of all NZ political observers regardless of their own personal ideologies, and anything he’s involved with inevitably turns into an embarrassing clusterfuck?

        see: schadenfreude

        • Arfamo 10.2.1.1
          16 January 2014 at 8:06 pm

          Are you his ex-wife or something?

        • Bill 10.2.1.2
          16 January 2014 at 8:27 pm

          🙂

        • Yoza 10.2.1.3
          16 January 2014 at 10:37 pm

          Citizen A was usually worth watching and The War on News was generally o.k.. I think Bradbury can be annoyingly shrill at times, but New Zealand really is a desert when it comes to analysis of the agenda driving the coordinator class.
          The 1% wouldn’t be able to rule without the complicity of the next 10-15%, I imagine ‘Bomber’ doesn’t have many fans from either of those tiers of our class structure.

  11. Watching 11
    16 January 2014 at 8:00 pm

    Outside of the political world Kim Dot Com & Colin Craig have actual entertainment value.

    Only Cunliffe, Brown and Key are going to get more media space that these two guys. I wouldn’t be surprised if both of them pick up a some of the media space that Winston owns.

    Craig bits on ‘man on the moon’ or ‘smacking’ or ‘jet streaming chemicals’ got TV, print, radio and of course blog coverage compared to what Parker or Roberston or Joyce or English or Turei get.

    The public is generally bored with politicians but KDC & Craig have not been boring.

    My above comments have nothing to do with voting outcomes.

  12. Disraeli Gladstone 12
    16 January 2014 at 8:12 pm

    Can we just make the point that any talk of the Internet Party taking young voters from National are decreasing every second that Bomber Bradbury is associated with them.

    I don’t see too many young tech savy people who generally vote National are going to now vote the Internet Party. Even more so if Bomber runs in Auckland Center.

    Bomber has taken undermining his own argument to a new extreme.

  13. Ian 13
    16 January 2014 at 8:17 pm

    What stage is the germans extradition application by the USA govt at ?He may be sitting in a US jail cell,awaiting trial well before we have our little election.

    • lprent 13.1
      16 January 2014 at 8:32 pm

      Highly unlikely. The case doesn’t look to me like it should have ever been a criminal case at all (civil case – maybe?). If they ever do manage to drag him to the US, my expectation is that the FBI will lose the case within a very short time.

      Quite simply they don’t have a winnable case.

      • Ian 13.1.1
        16 January 2014 at 8:38 pm

        If I was in that situation and knew I was totally innocent I would face up to my accusers,and prove my innocence. He certainly won’t slip under the radar with all the media coverage he has bought.

        • lprent 13.1.1.1
          16 January 2014 at 9:09 pm

          Why?

          Even if he was completely innocent of all charges, it is quite feasible for the federal prosecutors to keep him in the US running him through courts for a decade by simply appealing everything. After all they have the whole resources of the state behind them.

          That also makes it easy for other people like the Hollywood to launch litigation against him. Which based on the FBI’s actions to date appears to be the whole point of them getting him into the US court system with what look like bogus charges.

          Whereas if he fights it here then they have to prove their charges in a much more independent legal system where judges have less political pressure able to be applied to them.

          Your solution (as far as I can see) is that if *accused* but not convicted, that they should lock yourself up in case they may be guilty. Sounds to me like you would have fitted in well with the Stasi or the Gestapo. They had similar views about how the justice system should operate. Innocence meant grist for the concentration camps.

  14. millsy 14
    16 January 2014 at 8:20 pm

    The way things are going, KDC will probably end up showing everyone he is full of brown stuff. And I dont mean Bavarian sausage.

  15. vto 15
    16 January 2014 at 8:51 pm

    Seems like it has all been pretty good exposure for this new party party

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    16 January 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Kim Dotcom: Left or Right?

    The benefit of Dotcom’s Internet Party is making privacy, civil liberties and internet freedom an integral part of the political debate in NZ during election year. The debate is important.

    My reckon, is that Dotcom will support whoever gives him what his party demands. Its not obvious to me that the Internet Party will align to the left. Its politics after all.

    Interesting observations.

  17. veutoviper 17
    17 January 2014 at 2:00 am

    On the other hand 25 thousand email addresses is pretty good going. Privacy commission anyone?

    A middle of the night thought re this (plus being woken by a very wet cat jumping on me).caused me to get up and check the original advertising for the PartyParty.

    Registration for the PartyParty was through Eventfinda; not with Dotcom directly.

    Presumably, therefore, any harvesting of names, email addresses etc and privacy issues would lie with Eventfinda – not KDC, the Internet Party etc.- unless Eventfinda passes this information on, which seems unlikely for a company that must harvest massive numbers of names, email addresses daily and presumably is also very up with the play re privacy of this information.

    I am too half asleep right now to take in the details, but here are links to Eventfinda’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service

    http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/about/privacy-policy

    http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/about/terms-of-service

  18. tricledrown 18
    17 January 2014 at 8:26 am

    SIan
    Every company John Keyworked for went bankrupt.
    All these companies were involved in insider trading ,fraudulent trading etc so he should front up and declare his direct involvement .
    Libor was started on his watch currency trading futures were sold at falsified prices even NZ farmers are sueing companies still in business that haven’t gone bust otherwise ML would be on the stand as well.
    Keys selective memory(lies)
    Are the reason KDC has become so popular.
    Leaving you to explain the redfaced barefaced liar that is Key.

  19. jaymam 19
    17 January 2014 at 10:24 am

    Those of you with long memories may remember a garden party run by ACT in its early days. ACT people were waving signs in Remuera Road and inviting people into a large Remuera mansion. There were strawberries and cream on the tables, and a string quartet for entertainment.
    Clearly that was “treating”, but nobody seemed to care.

  20. Skinny 20
    17 January 2014 at 11:47 am

    If KDC had just stuck to a 40th birthday party theme he would have been fine, blowing his trumpet on tweeter was his down fall. He has a small army of paid support personnel around him, but yet still muffed it. The guy is going to be his own biggest enemy.  

  21. David H 21
    17 January 2014 at 4:54 pm

    I don’t know why he didn’t just put on a $2.00 charge for the tickets. And then donate the proceeds to some worthy charity.
    Then he has his party and some great press as well. Really put the shits up the Nats.

    But then again no-one asked me.

  22. greywarbler 22
    19 January 2014 at 3:06 pm

    It’s 16 January 2014. A long time from election time, one supposes.

    Why can’t a political party throw a free event? It’s very transparent done this way. Meantime the alcohol interests that fund NACTs and probably Labour, have events they sponsor and advertisements pushing their brand at Big Night and Day In and Out. It is making money for them, and profits that go to the pollies, but all second hand and conveniently overlooked by most voters.

    If we don’t want undue influence on the voters then bring forward the limits on advertising to six months before a declared election date, or the last possible legal date.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/9616239/Dotcoms-Internet-Party-takes-shape

    The Electoral Commission- “If it is proved that any person has made an offer to provide a service with the purpose of influencing voters in relation to an election, then the Electoral Commission would be concerned that it would give rise to a breach of [the act],” he said.

    That is pretty wide – surely you could drive a red or blue bulldozer through that with red or blue balloons on the back of it and a polly with a red or blue face, and Breach!