It seems that the Swedish election of new members of European Parliament, which put a member of the Pirate Party into office, has inspired more pirates across the European continent. New Pirate parties have formed in both the Czech Republic and in France, and the parties in both nations are hoping to run candidates in the next election.
What’s interesting about the candidates is that key members in neither party actually wants political power. Instead, they are hoping to raise awareness of their grievances by running candidates. The French Pirate Party in particular has something to rally against, especially considering the three strikes law which was recently passed, which forces ISPs to disconnect customers for merely being accused of piracy three times.
Rémy Cérésiani, founder of the French pirate movement, says that in addition to dealing with the threats against liberties that draconian copyright laws create, the party’s ”proposals are the flagship reform of copyright to allow universal access to culture through digital technology, the strengthening of direct democracy through the new tools made available via the Internet.” The pirates aren’t just upset over backwards copyright laws, but also over anti-democratic policies. We wish Mr. Cérésiani and his compatriots luck.
