Survey says 12% of men and 4% of women voted for the Pirate Party, which wants to “fundamentally reform copyright law” and “ensure that citizens’ rights to privacy are respected.”
Fallout from the conviction of Swedish BitTorrent tracker site the Pirate Bay for the facilitation of copyright infringement has reached critical mass with news that the Pirate Party captured 7.1% of the votes in EU Parliament elections.
“The polls beforehand had us at between eight and nice percent, but everything over four percent is a political sensation,” said Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Pirate Party.
It’s enough for at least 1 of the available Swedish seats in the legislative body.
An astonishing 19% of the voters under the age of 30 are said to have voted for the Pirate Party, making it the “biggest party among young people, bigger than both the Social Democrats and the Moderates,” said politics professor Sören Holmberg.
The jubilation inside Pirate Party HQ was immediate, and despite previous polls and studies indicating a win of at least 7%, even Falkvinge was amazed.
“We’ve felt the wind blow in our sails,” he said afterwards. “We’ve seen the polls prior to the election. But to stand here, today, and see the figures coming up on that screen… What do you want me to say? I’ll say anything.”
He observed that it was a statement about the tension between Swedish youth and older politicians, between those that have grown up immersed in a digital world and those that haven’t.
“Together, we have today changed the landscape of European politics,” Falkvinge added. “No matter how this night ends, we have changed it. This feels wonderful. The citizens have understood it’s time to make a difference. The older politicians have taken apart young peoples’ lifestyle, bit by bit. We do not accept that the authorities’ mass-surveillance.”
Many have pointed to the trial of The Pirate Bay as one major reason for the surge in popularity of the Pirate Party.
Many of the country’s youth have been angered over what they see as an intrusion by foreign, primarily US-based, entertainment industry conglomerates into the private affairs of a sovereign country. They understand that copyright laws were essentially written in a world before digital content that no longer exists, and that ultimately paralyze the ability of citizens to freely communicate and interact with one another.
Also adding fuel to the fire was the disclosure that the presiding judge in the Pirate Bay trial, Judge Tomas Norström, is an active member of several pro-copyright groups, rendering his decision anything but unbiased in the eyes of many.
Stay tuned.
jared@zeropaid.com
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Congratulations guys. Keep on sailing, we’re with you.
….you mean “unbiased in the eyes of many ppl that want to steal music, because they can get away with it at the moment”
and because the greens, pirates and digital media lobby, lie about artists not being affected, whilst profiting from theft and infringement.
surely a pro-copyright group is just one that wants to defend the law?
“….you mean “unbiased in the eyes of many ppl that want to steal music, because they can get away with it at the moment””
You are deluded: not everything that is file-shared is music and even if it were, it is not considered stealing (see three strikes law too draconion article comments).
“and because the greens, pirates and digital media lobby, lie about artists not being affected, whilst profiting from theft and infringement.”
I’m personally becoming sick of your ignorant arrogance after a few comments.
Making profits from another person’s work is not condoned. I should remind you that those who do this could buy the product anyway, like in the past before the digital era.
Obtaining an item, whether by downloading or legitimately buying it merely for personal use is fair; however companies such as the RIAA and MPAA still want to strictly control how they are used even when ownership of the specific item is bought.
“surely a pro-copyright group is just one that wants to defend the law?”
But then again, laws are made and can be changed by people, and pro-copyright groups are no exception. But often enough, pro-copyright groups want unbalanced laws, which, as of yet, exist. Because there are unbalanced laws, there will always be those who will protest and change them by their own hands when necessary. But in this case, copyright industries negatively impact the people on the basis of
1. Miscalculations
2. Fallacious logic
3. False claims
4. Corruption and greed
5. Manipulation of law and language
Let alone complete disregard to consumers.
The world went digital about 10 years ago and copyright law has yet to catch up. File-sharing is here to stay and no amount of filtering will ever stop that (think g-mail attachments which allow up to 20MB – 3 or 4 tracks – for example). The only person losing out to file-sharing are the record labels who cling to an outdated business model that rips off artists and consumers alike.
I went to Best Buy the other day and was shocked to see that I could buy a card for $13 bucks that gave me a pin code for a digital album download. Its the same price as regular album, but the record label didnt incur the costs of packaging and shipment so why is it $13 bucks?
PB will win in the fight for individual freedom against dirty capitalism!
They won one seat lol…
One seat is enough, we just need a voice to be there, the voice of reason needs to be heard.
I am proud of the suedish people for what they did, and I hope courageous steps like these will be made worldwide.