NationStates Jolt Archive

We al remember when the torrent sit Pirate Bay was closed down. Well since then the file sharing debate has grown and out of the flames The Pirate Party has been formed which would legalise file sharing and it is gainign loads of support in Sweden with similar parties being formed in France and Germany.

Article (http://www.blueyonder.co.uk/blueyonder/getContent.do?page=1500308&group=wd_technology)

In June we reported on the closure of the Pirate Bay bit torrent site by Swedish authorities. The subsequent raid and arrest of three Pirate Bay employees in Stockholm resulted in city wide unrest, street demonstrations and the Police website had to be shut down after it was subject to an alleged 'revenge hack'.



Following the incident, file sharing has become such a major issue that a Swedish political party that supports file sharing, The Pirate Party, has picked up a significant amount of support. Sister parties are even being established in France, Italy and the USA.


Right to Share

The Pirate Party was established in 2005 in response to new copyright legislation introduced in Sweden which banned the downloading of copyright material. They believe that strict copyright laws are wrong as they deny the public access to culture and information which they hold sacrosanct. They propose that all non-commercial copying should be free and that peer to peer networks should be actively encouraged.


Growth in support

They may have remained a party out on wild fringes of the Swedish political system had not the Government, under pressure from the USA, shut down the Pirate Bay network, back in May. Within a week the Pirate Party had gained an additional 1500 members. It has become the fastest growing political party in Sweden and membership levels are now higher than the Greens, with current membership standing at 3611 and rising.

Some online surveys indicate that it would be the favoured party of choice for first-time voters. If it can get 4% of the electoral support in the forthcoming general election in September, it will be guaranteed representation in parliament and may have a significant part to play in the formation of a new government.

To reach that level of support would be a tall order - a more realistic ambition would be to get over 1% of the vote in European elections, entitling the party to take up seats in the European parliament.

As a consequence of this surge in popularity, the Green Party, the Moderate Party and the Left Party have all changed their policy on copyright as primarily to prevent them losing votes to the fledgling organization.


Pirate Bay - not so holy

However Pirate Bay may actually be sticking to the ideals espoused by the Pirate Party. According to the Guardian, they have been making large scale profits from advertising, thus breaking the non-commercial aspect on file sharing. Furthermore, the owners of Pirate Bay could be facing some jail time if found guilty. Had they been operating on a non-profit basis, the most they would expect would be a fine. However it could be some time before the case goes to trial.

We will keep you posted.


However it seems they are still breaking the law by making profit on file sharing while making a proft something the Pirate Party is against. So what do you think? Will this spread or will it just die out afterthe elections.

Who said communism was dead?

Intellectual property is theft, comrade. :D

The Pirate Party has a snowball's chance in hell to enter the Riksdag. They need 4% of the national vote or 12% in any one constituency to pass the cut-off, and, well, they're nowhere close to that and the elections are next month.

Who said communism was dead?

Intellectual property is theft, comrade. :DNot that are anywhere near that extreme; they don't want to abolish it, just cut it down quite a bit. They also, which is why I'll support them, want to greatly extend the rights of privacy, limiting the rights of both government and organisations to monitor people's activities.

The Pirate Party has a snowball's chance in hell to enter the Riksdag. They need 4% of the national vote or 12% in any one constituency to pass the cut-off, and, well, they're nowhere close to that and the elections are next month.You never know; they have grown quite a bit, both when it comes to members (currently 7672) and popularity. (their main challenge is making themselves and their goals known well enough in the time left) But while significantly larger than a snowball's chance in hell IMO, I agree that their chances are not especially high.

You never know;

Oh, in this case one can have a very, very good hunch.

they have grown quite a bit, both when it comes to members (currently 7672) and popularity. (their main challenge is making themselves and their goals known well enough in the time left) But while significantly larger than a snowball's chance in hell IMO, I agree that their chances are not especially high.

In the entire country, there are 6 848 333 (http://www.val.se/val/val2006/statistik20060301/index.html) people with Riksdag election voting rights. 4% of that is approximately 273 933.

But, say, they need 12% of a constituency, and the smallest one is Gotland with 44 972 Riksdag voters. That is 5 396 votes they'd need from Gotland alone. In Stockholm län, the biggest one, they'd need 95 472.

None of the serious surveys conducted have the Pirate Party at even worth mentioning along with the "others" below 4%, that's including the much more credible Feministiskt Initiativ and Junilistan.