I’m moving to Sweden!

Arrrrr! :)[/quote]

yes, it’s like the word “gay”!

You are correct, there is no (I repeat no) connection between the Pirate Bay and the Swedish Pirate Party (or, AFAIK, any PP).

I think you’re wrong when you say it’s coincidental that they’ve both arisen, though. It’s defininitely not random. It was an idea whose time had come, and which is taking on many different faces.

Compare Greenpeace and the Green Parties.

So why Sweden? Well, my best explanation was that we were a few months ahead due to early high-speed broadband rollout. When you put technology in people’s hands, they discover what it can be used for. (100 Mbit is expected in an apartment in Sweden today. I had 10/10 Mbit in 1998, pretty normal at the time. Compare that to the US, where most are still not at that level today.)

Rick Falkvinge
Party leader, Swedish PP

And you never pause to consider the fact that copyright-law reform is one of the main issues of these movements?
At this point the pirate-parties are the only ones standing up against the tidal wave of civil rights abusing legislation being passed. One of the main reasons that there even is a growing “politically active voice” is the ingenious choice of the pirate brand!

I’ve never been on an electoral role or ever voted before, but I reckon I would for this party .

Even small babies/children have pirate-bodies, small cosy pirate gloves. (My 2 year and 5 year old both have pirate gloves).

So, the pirate theme is not that bad.

/Perty

my error then is to mistakenly associate the shared name of Pirate with the shared issues of copyright etc which is also all coincidental

and i have further erred because 5 members of TPB are not up on criminal charges for facilitation of copyright infringement in Sweden

furthermore, i have mistakenly made the link between copyright piracy and piracy of the highseas especially romantic swash buckling hero type of piracy!

fuck me how did i make such a mess

the right to privacy and open access is ultimately trivialized when the politically active voices of filesharing name themselves in the honor and spirit of TPB. who are all about, and dont forget this, refusing to remove infringing content

public perception can potentially turn against legitimate filesharing with disastrous results if under public scrutiny the origin of the pirate parties is linked to criminal enterprise. then it is all going to be just fun

i hear you guys about it all being a fun catchy name, but you are living on another planet. single issue politics is difficult but works best by using its base of support to lobby and petition those in power who can advocate open access rights. no professional politician is gonna champion the cause of The Pirate Party for not only the fear of looking comical but more seriously because criminal piracy is a big problem for our economies (remember filesharing is NOT piracy)

in the battle for the public, perception is everything, facts count for nothing

it is too late for the USA. filesharing has become a crime in the eyes and hearts of the public and media. there is the possibility that it can happen in Europe, is defending filesharing rights what The Pirate Parties are about? if so then make a great distance between yourselves and TPB and all symbols and names belonging to criminal piracy of copyright

dont you have anything better to do with all this organizing energy you possess? here is an idea for you: organize a political party and go out there into the land of grownups and ensure we get the world we want

politics is black and white. whose cause are The Pirate Parties ultimately assisting? not filesharing[/quote]
‘naming themselves in the honour of piratebay’ What planet are you living in? Every time I see one of your comments, h33t, I wonder more and more just what sort of alternate reality you live in. Pirates existed long before peter and co set up a website a few years ago. Pirates were democratic leaders, often working to change laws, and undermine politicians bought and sold by the rich and pwoerfull, using the newest technologies. As a metaphore, it’s apt.

Couple of things to point out to you, since you seem to be reading the comments, and not the article – the Hesse party is not dealing with copyright at all, because that just is not handled at the state level. Privacy, and associated rights, ARE, however.

As far as linked to criminal enterprise – as far as I know (and so far I’ve spoken with over 20 of the different pirate parties around the world) none of them have any ties to ‘criminal enterprise’. Perhaps you should do some (I’d usually add ‘more’ here, but that would imply some had been done in the first place) research.