Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

EU Parliament Next Stop for Pro-Piracy Party

Swedish group's membership up 215% after Pirate Bay case

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted May 22, 2009 12:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – Swedish pirates could soon be invading the European parliament, the Times of London reports. The Pirate Party, a political group whose sole aim is encouraging Internet copyright infringement, is poised to win several seats in next month’s elections. “The plan is Sweden, Europe, the world—in that order,” said the party’s top candidate. “This is a fateful question for Europe.”

But it’s especially salient in Sweden, one of the world’s most wired countries and home to the controversial file-sharing site Pirate Bay. Since its founders were given a year in prison for flouting copyright laws, Pirate Party membership has soared 215%. “Our politicians are digital illiterates,” said the group’s leader. “We need politicians that will not let themselves be bullied.”

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

Supporters of file-sharing hub the Pirate Bay demonstrate in Stockholm, Sweden, April 18 2009. (AP Photo)

The Pirate Party is on course to win several seats in the European parliament. (Shutter Stock)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The establishment and the politicians have declared war against our entire generation. Our politicians are digital illiterates. We need politicians that will not let themselves be bullied by foreign powers.
- Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate Party’s leader

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Sweden Has Official New Religion: File Sharing

Believers join Missionary Church of Kopimism

(NEWSER) - Sweden may not condone file-sharing—it's still illegal—but the country is officially OK with belief in the practice. Some 3,000 passionate file-sharers have gotten their beliefs recognized as an official religion. The Missionary Church of Kopimism—as in, "copy-me-ism"—has sought official status in Sweden since 2010, and it's finally won the battle, TorrentFreak reports. The decision follows a pair of rejections; authorities wanted Kopimism to define its prayer practices. More»

NZ Pol Tweets About Breaking Her Own Law

Melissa Lee votes for strict file-sharing law, tweets about listening to mixtape

(NEWSER) - This week's installment of "lawmakers ignoring their own laws" comes to you from New Zealand, which recently passed one of the world's strictest file-sharing laws. Melissa Lee voted for the "three-strikes" law, which says people can be fined up to $15,000 and lose Internet access if they are merely suspected of having illegally shared files. Opponents of the law were quick to point out that less than 24 hours before Lee made a speech supporting it, she tweeted about listening to a music compilation a friend had made for her, Gamma Squad notes. More»

Judge Kills Off LimeWire

File-sharing site ordered to permanently disable software

(NEWSER) - File-sharing site LimeWire has been effectively killed off by a court order. A federal judge has issued an injunction ordering the service to permanently disable its software and to end the sharing of unauthorized music files, the Wall Street Journal reports. The popular site was found liable for copyright infringement on a "massive scale" six months ago. More»

Europe Swoops In on Web Pirates

Servers shut down in 13 countries in file-sharing crackdown

(NEWSER) - Police in 13 European countries have raided dozens of locations in an attempt to crush illegal file-sharing rings that distribute pirated movies and TV shows. A total of 48 servers were shut down, according to the BBC . Seven locations were raided in Sweden, including a university and the ISP believed to host WikiLeaks and the Pirate Bay, though authorities say the raids had nothing to do with either site. More»

'Pirate Party' to Host Wikileaks Servers

Sadly, this has nothing to do with Captain Hook

(NEWSER) - The Pirate Party, a Swedish pro-piracy political party, has agreed to host servers for Wikileaks . The party, which also runs The Pirate Bay , a popular file sharing site, says supporting Wikileaks is in line with its commitment to copyright and patent reform, notes Information Week . "We want to contribute to any effort that would increase transparency and helps to keep the powerful in check," the party's leader says. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

EU Parliament Next Stop for Pro-Piracy Party