Last week, we reported on a study that suggested that the Pirate Party has enough support to gain two seats in the European Elections. One can easily trace the surge in support from angered Swedish citizens who saw a guilty verdict handed down to the Pirate Bay by a judge who has been under fire for being a supporter of the copyright industry. Not only this, but there was very tangible evidence that the United States government was involved in Swedish affairs surrounding file-sharing related issues – a kind of foreign intervention that doesn’t tend to fly amongst Swedish citizens.

We also know that a few Swedish ISPs rocketed to web fame when they said that they would destroy their logs in an effort to fight new anti-filesharing laws introduced in Sweden recently. Essentially, if they were asked to hand over their records, there would be nothing to hand over.

Clearly, the government is already in the midst of damage control, but word from The Local suggests that they may have a brand new PR meltdown on their hands that stands to giving even more support for the Pirate Party.

Internet service providers (ISPs) in Sweden will be forced to store customer data for at least six months starting in 2010, according to a new proposal from the government.

The proposal, which is still in its initial stages but was leaked onto the internet and reported on by the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper, is an attempt by the Ministry of Justice to prevent internet providers from diluting a new law meant to make it easier to hunt down people suspected of illegal file sharing.

In order to rectify the law’s shortcomings, Sweden’s Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask has laid out plans in an unpublished referral to Sweden’s Council on Legislation (Lagrådet) which would force ISPs to save information about their customers for six months.

“There is no referral to the Council on Legislation. The government hasn’t taken a decision about any referral to the Council and until the government has done so, nothing is finished,” he told the TT news agency.

In response, the Pirate Party had this to say (Google translation)

- Data storage means that the State may register any contact people have online and the telephone, although they are not suspected of crimes. It is contrary to the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights, says Christian Engström, Pirate Party’s first name to the EU Parliament.

- Internet is not a playhouse where politicians must do what they want. The Constitution must also apply on the Internet. We have the right to keep our private life private, “says Christian Engström.

Data Act also means that all mobile phone calls, we call recorded, together information about where the phone was located.

- In a blow turns all our mobile phones into electronic fetter in State service. It is quite unreasonable in a democracy in peacetime, “said Christian Engström.

The bill comes from an EU directive called Data Directive, which Thomas Bodström drove through in the EU during the last mandate. The Directive will therefore directly from the last red government, and now carried out by the blue.

- Saying “we must, for the European Union has decided” is a cowardly way to refuse to take responsibility, “says Engström. This law is an unacceptable violation of privacy. “Nej. Correct answer to the EU on this issue is a short and concise “no. Absolutely not. Sue us if you dare. “

If anything can be said about the next EU election, it’s that it’s going to be quite an interesting one on the back of this fresh revelation.

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The Stoppt Die Vorratsdatenspeicherung has announced the “Freedom, Not Fear” 2008 national day of action. Reports have surfaced that suggest the day of action was major success.

The protests were sparked by the fact that the Directive on Mandatory Retention of Communications Traffic Data was passed by the European Union. What this allows is essentially data flowing through all forms of communication including text messages, landline conversations, instant messaging, email, etc. for a period of two years. The idea was that if there was a data retention directive, all terrorist activities and other forms of crime would also be recorded, thus easily assisting law enforcement to prevent crimes and terrorism. Of course, this also encroaches on personal privacy which is why there were protests going to take place in the first place.

Protests were held in numerous cities across Germany. Here is the complete list:

The EFF also covered this story prior to the day of action and noted, “”Freedom Not Fear” is not a small event: over 20,000 people demonstrated in the last protest in September, and over thirty cities will be taking part in this weekend’s demonstrations. The organizers hope to expand across Europe for an even larger protest on September 20th of this year.”

The report afterwards says the following (Google Translation from German):

As in November 2007 were held under the motto “Freedom instead of fear” in Germany thousands of students. In over 30 cities continued with numerous demonstrations, rallies and information sessions and workshops and art actions clear signals for the preservation of fundamental rights and against excessive surveillance.

In Munich alone, says the report, there were over 2,500 demonstrators. A photo gallery wiki of the protests was also posted Also from the report:

In Jena were oversized surveillance cameras set up in Berlin there was a colourful programme of lectures, Mitmachworkshops and the presentation of various works of art, including a preview of the action work of art “Pigeon Project”

Apparently, there is a new law known as the “Assembly Prevention Act” which many protesters were also opposed to. An online petition was posted. The hope is to get 50,000 signatures by the first of July. Currently, there are almost 6,200 signatures as of this writing. A copy of the legislation was also posted (PDF – German)

As already mentioned, there are more protests expected, but this time, all across Europe. As Michel Blumenstein put it, “This is just the beginning” The plan is to hold protests across Europe on the 20th of September. Information on the plans is currently available on the websites wiki. Presently, demonstrations are expected in Berlin, but the hope is likely that more European cities will also join in the day of protest. Contact information and ideas are also available on the Wiki.

If anything at all, this whole thing proves that many countries around the world are currently dealing with network surveillance. It’s not just an issue in the United States for example. It’ll be interesting to see how privacy activism spreads throughout Europe.

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