Pirate Party Gains Another Seat In EU

bs0d3 writes "Amelia Andersdotter is a member of the Swedish Pirate Party elected in 2009. Originally her votes were not enough to beat fellow pirate Christian Engstrom for a seat on the European Parliament. Today the EU has redrawn the lines and 12 countries are to gain one or more MEPs — including Sweden, where Andersdotter is set to be confirmed."

Mermaid tears

[Oswald McWeany]

I cannot support this party.

I do not support ANY political party that tries to extract tears from mermaids.

I can't possibly be the only one...

[mark-t]

... who thinks that a name like 'Pirate Party' sounds like some sort of childish joke. They might have serious intentions, but I could no more bring myself to take them seriously than I could one called the "purple polka dot clowns party".

Even at best, to try to take the name at face value, their naming suggests they are advocating something that is strongly associated with disobedience and anarchy.

They need to grow up, IMO.

(This post is probably going to get modded as a troll, but it's still my honest opinion.)

Re:I can't possibly be the only one...

[Elgonn]

While I agree in theory that the name isn't very well thought out, I'm not sure it is really that bad. Sometimes you need to rally on "stupid" things to get motivation. Also I'm not sure Republican or Democrat is any less of a childish joke at this point. Just more historical.

Re:I can't possibly be the only one...

[AndyAndyAndyAndy]

Any more silly than "The Tea Party?" Or perhaps a party which refers to itself as the "Grand Old" Party? How about one that represents itself with an ass?

Politics is stupid. Might as well be forthcoming about what you stand for.

Re:The only people in the world and the party that

[CrystalFalcon]

Yeah.

OR, you could check the actual data from the election researchers where the Pirate Party has had successes, which shows a different picture.

Re:The only people in the world and the party that

[wootest]

Now, now. I respect the right of anonymous people to be misinformed, even loudly. There's no need to call them names.

I have voted for them every chance I've gotten and I download everything I possibly can from iTunes, to the point of getting a US account. I also don't have a Spotify account since I don't like the pittance that the artists are awarded in contrast to what the labels themselves get for zero work. At least with radio, they send people out to bribe radio stations (which I'm against, but they *do* something). I can afford to, and am willing to, pay for music, movies, games and so on, and if that's what it was all about I wouldn't be writing this. I don't think that I'm a complete anomaly in the Pirate Party voter base. The current party leader is a publisher.

What voting for them is about for me is to put an end to compromising civil rights and democratic tradition in order for some industries to supposedly stay afloat. It's also about stopping communication surveillance that's almost completely useless and at any rate remarkably disproportionate and ineffective. (Search for "FRA law".) And, yes, as part of the party program is a plea to make sure that non-commercial file sharing is decriminalized because every possible (and quite a few impossible) obstructions are either contra-productive and/or violates basic laws or rights more severely that warranted. The whole green party bloc in the European Parliament has adopted Christian Engström's positions on this issue.

I suppose it's easy to just short-circuit to "I WANT FREE MP3S PLZ", but there really is more to it than that.

Re:I can't possibly be the only one...

[kubitus]

most probably - you aren't

But please consider this : many democracies were introduced with pirating at least partly involved.

The greek were pirating the phoenicians

The Vikings all of Europe

And the British pirated on Spain

-

Maybe we can expect some democracy in Somalia soon?

Uh...

[AdamJS]

Last I heard, the Tea Party wasn't an actual political party, just a bunch of whiners. Something to put on the end of your conservative political resume, not a specific political party you were a member of.
I mean, ignoring the fact that it was nothing more than a Republican vassal puppet.

You're right about the GOP, but I can't see it as anything other than an a funny way of saying they're regressive old twats.

Re:The only people in the world and the party that

[next_ghost]

What makes me sad for being a member of human race is how many people confuse opposition against copyright monopoly with just wanting to download movies and music without paying. Pirate Parties around the world are built around the same values and ideals of sharing that have driven scientific progress for over 300 years. Isn't it peculiar that those parts of our economy most responsible for past progress and most important for future progress also have the least protection of "intellectual property"?