Pirate Politics
In Europe, single-issue, fringe political parties are nothing new. In France, there’s a party dedicated solely to restoring the country’s long-defunct monarchy. In Germany, the Gray Panthers Party campaigns for pensioners. But there’s something different about Sweden’s Piratpartiet (Pirate Party). While American politicians such as Howard Dean and Ron Paul have demonstrated the potential of ...
In Europe, single-issue, fringe political parties are nothing new. In France, there's a party dedicated solely to restoring the country's long-defunct monarchy. In Germany, the Gray Panthers Party campaigns for pensioners. But there's something different about Sweden's Piratpartiet (Pirate Party). While American politicians such as Howard Dean and Ron Paul have demonstrated the potential of the Internet in advancing their issues, for Sweden's Pirate Party, the Internet is the issue. It's the first political party in the world for which Internet policies constitute its entire party platform.
In Europe, single-issue, fringe political parties are nothing new. In France, there’s a party dedicated solely to restoring the country’s long-defunct monarchy. In Germany, the Gray Panthers Party campaigns for pensioners. But there’s something different about Sweden’s Piratpartiet (Pirate Party). While American politicians such as Howard Dean and Ron Paul have demonstrated the potential of the Internet in advancing their issues, for Sweden’s Pirate Party, the Internet is the issue. It’s the first political party in the world for which Internet policies constitute its entire party platform.
Founded in 2006 by a former Microsoft employee, the Pirate Party seeks to reverse Sweden’s restrictive copyright laws, which prohibit such popular activities as peer-to-peer file-sharing of music and movies. But party head Rickard Falkvinge says there’s more to it than free music. "Our mission is to facilitate the emerging information society," he says. "We’re a civil liberties group."
Apparently, the message is resonating. Within its first two days, the party’s Web site received 3 million hits. Many were from university-age Swedes, who constitute the majority of the party’s membership. The Pirate Party received 35,000 votes in Sweden’s 2006 parliamentary elections. Not enough for a seat, but enough to force larger and more powerful parties to make copyright reform part of their agenda.
Now, pirate parties are popping up across Europe. Austria, Germany, and Spain all have officially registered pirate parties that have fielded candidates in recent elections. Europe’s more traditional parties would be wise not to discount these young, tech-savvy politicos. "We communicate faster and more efficiently than any party before us," says Falkvinge. "We can get things done in one hour that take them a week of meetings." That’s clearly a shot across the bow.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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