Pirate Party Gets Massive Support in Sweden
Written by Ernesto on December 26, 2008Things are looking really good for the Swedish Pirate Party. Running up to the 2009 European Parliament elections more than half of all Swedish men under 30 are considering voting for them. Thanks to the Internet, its membership has grown 50% during the last quarter, surpassing that of the well established Green Party.
When the Swedish Pirate Party was launched three years ago, the majority of the mainstream press viewed them with skepticism, with some simply laughing them away. Times have changed though. As the government works to introduce harsher copyright laws and others that threaten the privacy of Sweden’s citizens, the party is growing stronger and stronger.
In a recent poll, 21 percent of all Swedes indicated that they would consider voting for the Pirate Party in the upcoming European Parliament elections. Among men in the 18-29 age group, this number goes up to a massive 55% – an unprecedented statistic.
Aside from the support in this poll, more people have joined the party recently. During the last quarter the membership count increased by 50% – from 6000 to 9000 – which makes the party larger than the Green Party which currently holds 19 seats in the Swedish parliament.
Swedish Pirate Party Leader Rick Falkvinge told TorrentFreak that the Internet played a big part in the recent successes of the party. “We couldn’t have done this without the dialog infrastructure that the Net provides. Oldmedia has lost control of the discourse,” he said. With all the controversy surrounding the new anti-piracy and wiretapping legislation, the Pirate Party was often mentioned on blogs, since they are the most outspoken opponent.
For the upcoming European election, the Pirate Party requires 100,000 Swedish votes to get a seat, a goal that is within reach in the current political climate. Falkvinge is optimistic too, and said “We need to grow by another 50%, counting from the Swedish election two years ago, to get seats in the EU parliament and shake the political copyright world at its core. It’s hard, it’s supposed to be hard, but the numbers show we can do it. We can do this, and the charts are going stratospheric.”
The Internet will probably play a big role in this election for the Pirate Party, and recent history has shown that this is not only true for parties that carry “pirate” in their name. Elections to the European Parliament will be held in June 2009, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how the Pirate Party fares.
Previously: Australian Web and BitTorrent Filtering Scheme Delayed
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66 Responses
From this, one might wonder what are the conditions that have enabled this Pirate Party to gain as much support as it has in Sweden. If it shall be one of public opinion, then perhaps it can succeed in Finland as well. I guess that it is also of importance that people shall realize that copyright is actually an important issue. After all, copyright does control what people are allowed to do with ideas or thoughts and ideas in their minds, including memorizing songs and performing them, and so on, which destroys freedom of speech and freedom of thought. One wonders whether this success can be replicated in other countries.
As I pointed out to Roze the other day, the US does have a party. We’ve covered them several times in the past year. http://www.pirate-party.us
Other nationalities can get their local party info, or see about starting their own parties, at the Pirate Party International site.
Google Translate does a decent job of translating the linked Swedish blog post:
http://translate.google.se/translate?u=http%3A%2F...
"Undersökningen omfattar 970 personer från 18 år och uppåt, och genomfördes den 15-17 dec 2008." == "The survey covers 970 people from 18 years upwards, and was conducted on 15-17 December 2008."
Its times for some major change, thats for sure.
People were hoping for change with the new government, except the changes that came were not positive ones and went against the very will of the people.
We need positive change, and while I could be wrong… the pirate party seems to be the best party for positive change, the others dont seem to have a clue or have the heads so far up the backsides, you cant tell which end starts where and ends where.
Cheers,
http://www.eZee.se
This would only work in a Free Country I am afraid. Not a Police State!
Word!
One can hope that it will stay that way
Pirates get massive support worldwide as they should be keepin it FREE!
Jess
anonymity.cz.tc
First on their agenda: Free pot and legalized cocaine!
I like pirates
Swe: "enfrågeparti", Eng: "single issue party" (from the google translated blog post by Falkvinge"
like in Canada where 100000 people joined the faircopyright for canada facebook group, translate that to the 400 member pirate party and remember all that talk that facebookers and geist did, actually did not have the Harper govt listen to them, so perhaps it is time for it TO HAPPEN in Canada as well.
I have said that we should have these large groups migrate to every country and then form a SUPER group
with millions a people world wide they will have no choice but to listen
and your the exact reason most of these movements fail.
they should never legalize the drugs cocaine it has proven to be very harmful to everyone, pot you could do like beer and tax it.
We're Chinese, we support you!!
It's almost like I have to change from being an Norwegian citizen to a Swedish one, to vote for the Pirate Party!
Wow! I never knew the Pirate Party was this big of a hit in Sweden. I guess the people of Sweden are in for a major change soon!
One of the main reasons why I'm not afiliated with the party in the states is b/c I figure it would be a red flag for a lawsuit. Does any one else have the same thought?
The United States is, in fact, a free country. If the people wish to change the laws regarding copyright, it will be changed as such. The thing that needs to be done is to get people to vote as such as a political pressure group.
If you could stop talking like the old testament bible that would be just great.
If anyone can invite me to Demonoid, Torrenleech, of any other private tracker, I'd be forever grateful. I am already a member of What.CD
thomasa@bredband.net
Africa's First BitTorrent Tracker freshjada.com Under DDoS Attack
Africa's First Bit torrent Tracker Freshjada.com is going through some rough times. For several days now, the site has been offline due to a DDoS attack. The site has allegedly been hacked by a group called Teko Brigade, which is also speculating that it has managed to compromise the tracker and is threatening to continue its attacks until the tracker is closed.
Freshjada.com is West Africa's first bit torrent tracker community with several hundred users, most of them from West Africa.
This is the first time the tracker has been under a DDoS attack , and no matter how futile the ambitions of the attackers are in respect to targeting the tracker due to the fact that it’s promoting the use of P2P, the success of Freshjada.com seems to have already pissed off the local warez scene.
DDoS attacks are not an unusual event for many private BitTorrent trackers. Although they are sometimes used as an excuse for server issues, most of the larger trackers have been subject to such attacks at least once.
While I hope the Pirate Party do well, the poll that matters is the actual election, not some overhyped opinion poll where people were only asked about one party.
No. The Pirate Party U.S., which is not official yet, is legal.
No. The Pirate Party U.S., which is not official yet, is legal. It is not illegal to belong to a political party.
No. The Pirate Party U.S., which is not official yet, is legal. It is not illegal to belong to a political party. The U.S. is very much a democratic nation.
oh snap!
The Pirate party in Sweden is ran by two expiereneced politicians and their main tool is the internet. Their popularity will be massively boosted by people who care for privacy and are anti-copywrite/patents. Their party could lead to Sweden being the first intellectualism party ever elected in significant numbers as they are offering reforms that undo many capitalism necessities i.e. control of a product. I’m currently working towards my citizenship ;)
From another site:
Just a clarification. This article misrepresents the actual poll results.
We didn't get an actual 21% of people who said outright they would vote for us.
The actual numbers: 7% of Swedish voters would "absolutely consider" voting for us in the European parliamentary elections, and 14% said they "might consider" voting for us in said elections.
We're happy about the results, but we have enough grounding in reality that we don't expect 21% of the votes in the Europarl, even in our wildest dreams. :-)
Per von Zweigbergk
Swedish Pirate Party
I strongly support initiatives like pirate parties (even if I think the name in itself will prevent them from gaining any popularity outside the geeks world) but seriously, the poll is a tool to manipulate masses.
well let's wait for election results before we get our hopes up
"One of the main reasons why I'm not afiliated with the party in the states is b/c I figure it would be a red flag for a lawsuit. Does any one else have the same thought?"
I don't live in the US but that is possibly the dumbest thing I have read anyone post in … I don't know, AGES. What nature of charge do you suppose they will file against you then?
Well, if you're actually a member if What.cd you will note that once you get to Power User status you can access the invites and recruitment section and get trackers a sh*tload better than demonoid.
BTW, asking for "any private tracker" is a pretty dumb idea as people are really starting to dislike tracker "collectors".
Oh right… that must be why there's almost no organised movement that are pro-pirate.
Dont you think if that if they could do that and maintain their political integrity due to their policies being aligned they would?
That was a really crap clarification as your giving infomation that isn't factual. Why don't you read the article pertaining to this infomation …
"but seriously, the poll is a tool to manipulate masses. "
What are you talking about: polls are reflections of answers people give to a given set of questions or suppositions, how the hell is that providing any form of manipulation?
"but seriously, the poll is a tool to manipulate masses. "
What are you talking about: polls are reflections of answers people give to a given set of questions or suppositions, how the hell is that providing any form of manipulation?
I agree with you about the name though: not only does it seem unlikely to garner any mainstream votes it also seemingly doesn't even reflect their policy agenda IE. their major push isn't in fact to support the breaking of current copyright law. Unfortunately many people here read the name and assume that they wish to amend copyright law and so what they do currently (downloading copyrighted material) is legal.
As pointed out already this doesn't mean much: "considering" isn't an actual vote or even an intention of voting.
No no no.
Democracy is an illusion. We can't actually vote on issues… just people to vote on issues. In the case of the president, we vote for people to vote for people to vote on issues (electoral college). And in the end, nobody we vote for is true to their word. Any politician who says they are for the people will change their mind when the RIAA donates to their campaign. We get two choices every election, and both suck. How do you think voting is going to fix anything?
Admittedly in a parliamentary system, there is more of a chance for smaller parties to make a splash… and im optimistic for the sweedish pirate party, but if you ask me, we need to vote with our keyboards, and not with our ballots. If the technology is put in place, and filesharing becomes widespread enough, change will be inevitable.
Yes, voting will actually change things. It is not mere voting, but rather, the existence of a pressure group that shall change things. Democracy is not an illusion, certainly not the one in the United States. If you want "democracy is an illusion," look at Uzbekistan, not at the United States.
> what they do currently (downloading copyrighted material) is legal.
But so called "making available" or simply sharing may be classified as illegal (it is controversial, because some courts said that it is legal).
let me clarify:
7% will vote for the pirate party
14% are considering voting for the pirate party
/epic win
I do live in the US, and I can tell you why that is not dumb statement. The danger is not in whether or not it is illegal to be a part of the Pirate Party here, it is how it looks for you to be a member. Does anybody remember the McCarthy madness that swept the US so easily? People were charged as Communists, whether or not there was anything to back this up, and regardless of the fact that people are free to be affiliated with whichever party they choose. And even if you got off the hook, you were usually blacklisted, making it impossible for you to get a job or make connections so as to take care of yourself. Now we have the Patriot Act, which gives our police/federal officers the authority to arrest you as they see fit, whether or not you are breaking a law. Really, all they have to do is hit you with something that they know will let them drag you through court for so long that it destroys your social life and buries you in legal fees. But seriously, the government does what it wants, regardless of what the law states. Even if they don't charge you with something, they are very good at harassing/threatening people, so I can understand why someone might be wary of doing something like joining the Pirate Party. All it takes is for politicians to manufacture a new '"threat" to our "democracy" and decide that you fall under said "threat". So please don't be so naive as to think that the law actually protects you anywhere but in court, because even there you can often twist it to mean something completely different than what it does. Just a thought.
Just had a quick look at their manifesto. They only seem to cover the act of changing the idea of ownership and privacy and suchlike.
What about other policies regarding health&education, economy, defence, housing or the environment etc?
USA needs to get a new party like Sweden and then maybe we can keep our rights because since the Democrats and Republicans have been running the show we have lost more rights than we can afford. hopefully stuff like this will spread around and then it will be harder for the stupid copyright peeps to come after us.
Will be nice to have a small voice in the weakest legislating body of the EU. But I suppose everyone has to start somewhere. . .
It's not as big as it seems. The question (roughly translated) was "In six months from now there is an election for the European Parliament. The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden who opposes surveillance laws such as Ipred and the FRA-law. Would you consider voting for The Pirate Party in the election?" The choices were "Yes, absolutely", "Yes, maybe", "No", "Will not vote", "Haven't heard about The Pirate Party" and "Hesitant or don't know".
The question it self is in my opinion vague, "Would you consider" could mean a lot of things. The choices are also pretty misleading, two yes-options and only one no. They added the yes-options (7% and 14%) to reach 21% which i think would mean that they probably wouldn't get near 21% of the votes if this was an actual election.
why dont sweden's pirate party and green party form a coalition. They should be sharing each other's policies and principles anyway, in my view, and they would be much stronger working as one.
It's actually enough just to have one single voice in the european parlament. Most, if not all, anti-privacy legislations that have been passed in the parlament has done so because of misinformation and lack of knowledge. With a voice in the parlament that can argue for privacy, the lack of knowledge will be countered,
In tha last election, roughly two and a half years ago a new goverment was apointed in sweden, mostly due to discontent with the one we had. This new goverment has continuasly pushed new legislations that will seriosly jepordize our privacy. The citizens of sweden has largely opposed this, and demonstrations with thousands of people have been frequent, even supported by members of our current goverment. The mainstream press has picked up on this and covered it widely. That is why it's been so successfull lately.
If the pirate party of sweden can achive seats of both national and european parlament it will very likely be a positive trend for all other pirate parties aswell. Atleast we must hope so.
Who cares about Sweden?
It’s really a shitty country.
Actually, it is much more free now than in its founding. At the start of the U.S., there was legalized slavery in every state, only white men who meet a certain property requirement could vote, and there was no secret ballot, and the senate was not directly elected. The United States is, in fact, more democratic than it was in its founding – especially if you consider how the Sedition Act of 1798 would definitely be ruled unconstitutional in this day. True, there was the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, but all things considered, they were during war-time, and were either limited by later court rulings or repealed. If you compare the United States, to, for example, Burma, I am sure you would pick the United States to be the more democratic one. The fact is that campaign funding can only do so much, and candidates are definitely not picked by the banking and oil industries – not in this day, anyways.
The fact is that if there were ever such a nefarious control of power by industry, (which, admittedly, did happen somewhat in the 1950's under Eisenhower, in FOREIGN COUNTRIES like Operation Ajax), people would know about it, since no government which deceives massively can truly do it successfully – especially since it definitely did not succeed even in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the idea that industry controls everything is also not taking into account the fact that several historical events were not exactly in the interest of the industry, like the Spanish-American War of 1898, where the businesses were actually not eager to engage in war against the Spanish because such a thing might threaten their business interests in Cuba. Yes, sometimes, businesses get their way, like what happened in the takeover of the Panama Canal, but to say that they have absolute power over what happens in government is always ridiculous. Even in the days of the political machine bosses, there was the populists and the later progressives which definitely made a difference – and not in the industry's favor, such as the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Adamson Act, the Federal Trade Comission Act, Keating-Owen Child Labor Act, and Theodore Roosevelt's and Taft's trust-busting.
Well, times have indeed changed, but it is in the opposite direction of what you have said. Go ahead, if you want to think that we were more free in the days when companies could just form monopolies through trusts whenever they wanted, could hire private armed forces (like the Pinkerton Detective Agency) to infiltrate or combat labor unions, could declare labor unions illegal through the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, or could threaten to fire their workers for not voting for McKinley (since there was no secret ballot). Now seriously, we are not in the days of the Crédit Mobilier scandal or Boss Tweed anymore.
too bad you can't just steal votes off the internet…
there is a pirate party in USA. and they're a freaking joke
Might not, since the Pirate Party is essentially a single-issue party, even though their policies are indeed aligned. Maybe, who knows?
Yes, there is always the particular social danger of it, but to act like if we were in Uzbekistan is just ridiculous. For example, in the United States, if there were ever a gathering of a pro-file-sharing group, the armed forces are not going to come in and randomly kill over 200 people in the crowd.
as a EXpat i am coming back just to vote Pirate this is the most important human rights battle of the century.
We need this in the US!
Times have changed, we started as a free country, if you really think we're still free you're either really naive or in denial.
And you're certainly misled if you think that our votes count.
Every candidate that we are presented has been handpicked by the banking and oil industries.
Look at where Obama and McCain's campaign funding came from.
Chase Manhattan (among many others) donated large sums to both of them.
As Thomas Jefferson said, "There are none more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
Our government is an evil terrible imperialistic bloodthirsty force in the world.
You're seeing the world through Roze-colored glasses.
Technically, this is true. But by the same logic, "LEGALIZE POT" on the back of your car won't get you pulled over more often. And that's government – corporations have al the freedom in the world to profile you.
But for now, I wouldn't worry about it. They'd have to go way into illegal territory to reverse-engineer your name with an IP.
In USA, third party is always 'a freaking joke' to someone
But then where do the anti-environment pirates go?
Or if you want a more realistic political demographic, the pro-copyright environmentalists.
"this is the most important human rights battle of the century."
——————————————————————————–
lol
Good way to get Sweden kicked out of 'most favored nation trading status".
Just to make something clear: the pirate party has no membership fee. Thus it is very easy for anyone to join without having to make any kind of obligation. Therefore I find it silly to say things like "the party is bigger than the green party", when the greens, as the other parties, have a much more politically active member base. You can't really compare the two. Another thing: the european elections have a very low turn-out in comparison with the national elections. This means that all smaller parties (greens, far left and far right parties, etc) are overrepresented in the European parliament because these parties' voters are more active and thus vote in a higher degree than the average mainstream-party voter. It's good to keep these things in mind when looking at random polls like this one.
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