Swedish pirates fire a warning shot over internet censorship

Times Online (U.K.) ^ | June 8, 2009

[Schnucki]

Sweden’s Pirate Party, which wants an internet filesharing free-for-all, is one of the surprise entrants to the European Parliament after winning 7.4 per cent of the vote.

The party, which also wants to beef up internet privacy, was founded in January 2006 and quickly attracted members angered by Swedish laws that criminalise filesharing and authorise the monitoring of e-mails. Its membership shot up after a court in Stockholm sentenced four men in April to a year in jail for running one of the world’s biggest filesharing sites, the Pirate Bay. Voters had their revenge last night by electing at least one of the Pirate Party as an MEP.

“When the verdict was announced at 11.00am, we had 14,711 members,” said Rick Falkvinge, the party’s founder. “We tripled in a week, becoming the third-biggest party in Sweden in terms of numbers. All of a sudden we were everywhere.”

In Sweden’s general election in 2006 the Pirate Party won only 0.6 per cent of the vote.

“They have been very lucky because the Pirate Bay verdict came at the same time as the start of the election campaign, but I think the Pirate Party had the potential to grow anyway,” said Ulf Bjereld, a political scientist at Gothenburg University.

“The Pirate Party has taken advantage of a new cleavage in Swedish politics, about civil liberties, about who should have the right to decide over knowledge, and that’s not a left-right cleavage,” he said.

“The traditional parties have been sleeping, they have underestimated the political potential in these issues.”

The typical Pirate Party supporter is a young, male internet buff. “It’s a ‘geek’ party,” said Brian Levinsen, a 31-year-old member at a recent campaign meeting in Stockholm.

There were some other surprises elsewhere, not least in Latvia. Voters in the European country worst

[Squantos]

Cleavage ,Pirates,Politics ......routine.

[Osnome]

But what does this mean for us?

Is this ‘Pirate Party’ friendly to American Interests?

[exist]

For socialists those dudes are alright.

[Hugin]

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of Absolut.

[anymouse]

Is this ‘Pirate Party’ friendly to American Interests?

Well this one was. ;)

Jean Lafitte, or Laffite, c.1780-c.1826, was a Louisiana privateer and smuggler who helped U.S. forces in the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the WAR OF 1812. About 1810 he and his men settled in the area of Barataria Bay, near New Orleans, and preyed on Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1814 the British attempted to buy Lafitte's aid in attacking New Orleans. Instead he passed their plans onto the Americans and helped Andrew Jackson defend the city in January 1815. Lafitte later returned to privateering.

[Osnome]

Yeah but that guy was French!
Not Swedish.

[Osnome]

I was refering to this Swedish Party.

[ari-freedom]

didn’t we just have a story about Sweden vs pirates the other day or so ago?

[anymouse]

Yeah but that guy was French!

Down this way, they called him a Texan. ;)

How can you resist a town whose first known European settler is a pirate? The cultured and debonair privateer Jean Lafitte established the colony of Campeche on Galveston Island in 1817, numbering about 1,000 people at its peak. Lafitte was eventually forced to leave (burning his town behind him), and Galveston as we know it was founded by Michel Menard and Samuel May Williams, among others.

They arrived at Galveston in May, 1817 . The island was named Galveztown by Spanish explorers, in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, a viceroy of New Spain .Galveston Island, also called Snake Island at the time,for the many snakes there .Before Lafitte arrived, Galveston served as the home base of privateer Louis-Michel a'Aury. While Aury was away, Jean Lafitte took control . Lafitte called his settlement Galveztown in 1819 and Galveston Island was named Campeche.

In 1818 , Lafitte was notified by President Monroe to leave the island as it was considered part of the Louisiana Purchase. this message was delivered by Col George Graham .Also in 1819, one of Lafitte's ships, the El Bravo, was captured by two U.S. revenue cutters after a brief battle . The captain of the ship, Jean Desforges and his crew were taken to New Orleans for trail .Jean Lafitte went to New Orleans to hire lawyers for the trail. They were unable to provide a letter of marque from the Mexican Republic, found guilty and hung on the yard arm of a revenue cutter anchored on the Mississippi by New Orleans in 1820 . After this, the Lafitte's started to secure secret storage places for their loot, sensing a coming of the end of operations out of Galveston.

In 1821, the schooner USS Enterprise was sent to Galveston and demanded that the privateering camp be destroyed and the Lafittes were to leave the site .If this were not done in 60 days, the Enterprise would return and attack. Lafitte agreed to leave the island without a fight, and in 1821 or 1822 departed on his flagship, the Pride, burning his fortress and settlements and reportedly taking immense amounts of treasure with him.

And to repay his loyalty and service to America, his men were unjustly jailed, his home invaded in an attempt to seize his wealth, forcing him to flee off-shore with his Gold.

Seems things don't change much. ;)

[dbehsman]

Is this ‘Pirate Party’ friendly to American Interests?

Well, I'll tell you one thing. HELLywood HATES file sharers. HELLywood also HATES Conservatives.

Personally I think the Pirate Party tends to be a little flaky, but if HELLywood and the stinking copyright monopolists (RIAA) hate them, then I think they must be some what all right.

[sten]

[RoadTest]

Now, that’s more like it, you descendants of the Vikings!