Pirate Party Bags Seats on European Parliament
Sweden’s Pirate Party this past weekend secured themselves two seats in the European Parliament.
Founded in 2006, the group is rallying a reformation of copyright and patent law. Naturally, with a name like the Pirate Party, they weren’t taken all that seriously. However, Friday’s voting saw the Pirate Party come fifth, garnering 7.1 percent of the Swedish vote. The first four positions went to the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Liberals and the Moderate Party. Given that Sweden has a total of twenty seats in the European Parliament, the Pirate Party’s 7.1 percent of votes translates to two seats.
PCWorld reports that nearly one quarter of voters under the age of 21 voted for the Pirate Party and according to TorrentFreak, the turnout at the elections was 43 percent, meaning 200,000 Swedes have voted for the Pirate Party.
TF goes on to highlight the huge increase in support of the party since the national elections in 2006, which only saw the Pirates win 34,918 votes. This surge in support has been put down to the very public Pirate Bay trial which took place in Sweden and saw four men sentenced to a year each in prison along with an order to pay substantial damages to music, movie and game companies.
Check out the full story on TorrentFreak.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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-unknown- While I agree with the need to reform copyright law, I wish the party had chosen a better name.Reply
(in the sense that I'm sure a lot of people don't take them seriously just because of the name)
It will be interesting to see if their support continues to grow. -
jacobdrj That. Is. AWESOME! HAHAHA!!!Reply
We need more of this type of behavior in the USA.
If ever there was a case for a majority government style parliament, this is it. -
the last resort we just need people that know something about technology and engineering in our Congress. And political science DOES NOT count.Reply -
chripuck We need a different method of representation at all levels of our government (in the US.) This all or nothing winner takes all system is ludicrous. It is literally impossible for something like this to happen in the US.Reply -
jacobdrj We also need an economist as a president, at least once...Reply
You'd think that would be a prereq to being the leader of the 'free world'. -
grieve jacobdrjWe also need an economist as a president, at least once...You'd think that would be a prereq to being the leader of the 'free world'.The definition of "free world" needs updating...Reply
Woot to the pirate party.