Reid against Pirate Bay changed Sweden
A lot has happened since the Swedish police tried to stop Piratbay. It's time to summarize and try to predict further events.
The Torrentfreak editors turned to Mathias Hellsten, author of the Piracy Unlimited blog, and a Swedish citizen for comment. Here is how he explains what is happening:
Firstly, the attack by the authorities was extremely unsuccessful - Pirate Bay remained inaccessible for only a couple of days, after which it resumed its work in full. He even strengthened his position - thanks to wide coverage of the situation in the media. Then, several sources reported that the American Cinema Association (MRAA) was the initiator of the persecution. She put pressure on Swedish government officials, in particular, on the Minister of Justice, trying to get his personal intervention in this particular situation, which is considered illegal in Sweden. It also turned out that the United States threatened Sweden with the inclusion of the country in the WTO’s blacklist for the fact that Pirate Bay’s activities were not stopped. This must have caused the Swedish authorities to act more decisively. Apparently, the prosecutor was hinted that the government "is hoping for an early resolution" of this issue. A little later, the prosecutor told the Prime Minister about the impossibility of indicting the Pirate Bay portal, but, as it seems to me, after several more letters from the American Film Association and the not so delicate hints from the US Secretary of State, he changed his opinion.
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When the Swedish television published documents confirming the stated version , intense discussions continued in the media, thanks to which the number of people sympathizing with the pirate movement increased. The brochure outlining the main provisions of the movement, Copy me, was sold out and we are expecting a new edition in the coming days.
At the same time, the Piratbyrån server, the Swedish headquarters of the pirates, was confiscated by the police, where it remained until the next day. While Piratbyrån made legal and other attempts to return his own equipment, he managed to gather numerous support groups throughout Scandinavia, and the total number of supporters allowed an international organization to protect the interests of the movement to be established — called the Pro Piracy Lobby . Currently, PPL maintains contact with similar groups in a dozen other countries, all these groups are interested in uniting.
Secondly, the general attention to the problem has become a real tailwind for the Party of Pirates, which existed by that time for half a year. In just a few weeks, thousands of new members joined. Suddenly, the party became the largest among the movements not represented in the current parliament. In Sweden, an organization gains parliamentary seats with four percent of the vote. At the moment, the Pirates Party has almost as many members as the Green Party that supports the current government. Without the Greens, the government cannot provide a parliamentary majority. This state of affairs allows the Pirates Party to hope that, once in parliament, it will be able to play an equally significant role and thus achieve great changes. According to various unofficial estimates, which now and then appear in various sources, the Pirates Party is such a candidate for whom a young voter, who first participates in elections, will most likely cast his vote, but such an “analyst” has no value.
The success of the Swedish pirates also contributed to the appearance of pirate parties in several other countries: France, Italy, USA, Belgium, Austria, as well as Germany, Spain and Russia. Another one is being formed now in the UK. Together, they established Pirate International (PP-International ), which is a discussion platform for international cooperation, exchange of experience, ideas, etc. Sweden plays a very important role here.
General elections will be held at the end of September, so the passions around the election campaign are increasingly heating up. The party of pirates made the decision to be guided by the existing ideology in everything, to follow the course previously chosen, to adhere to this line. Now there is no need to make any changes, all efforts will be directed at the election campaign, in this direction the main party work will be carried out until the end of the elections.
Further actions will fully depend on the results of the voting, and there are many options here.
According to the first scenario, the party will receive its 4%, among its supporters almost no one doubts that. The next step will be an attempt to gain influence during the formation of the government. In Sweden, the prime minister is elected by parliament, that is, the candidate must receive a majority of the votes of the members of the new parliament. No party ever receives such a number of seats to provide this majority, therefore the party of the government is forced to seek the support of other parties, and they in turn have the opportunity to influence the government. This is the position that the Pirates Party intends to achieve, and their further parliamentary work will depend for the most part on whether they have achieved this goal.
Outside parliament there is also something to do. If the party receives more than 2.5% of the vote, it will have government subsidies that allow you to hire several people for a full day. The amount of the subsidy increases, as I recall, with each additional half percent of the voting results. All this money, of course, will go to the salary of hired employees working to strengthen the party, as well as to develop local branches. While all members of the Party of pirates work for free, on a voluntary basis, for the sake of the idea that they all protect. A few full-time employees who could do rough work would not be in the least hindered.
Also, more and more new groups will be formed on the ground, which should help the party to “light up” in the province if it does not participate in local elections. There is still much work to be done in this direction.
It is also possible that a lot of work will require assistance to foreign parties of pirates, such assistance will be provided through the RR-International.
Speaking of long-term goals, it is worth mentioning the elections to the European Parliament in 2009, in which the Pirates Party intends to take part. It is even easier to get into this parliament, so the party may achieve more precisely in these elections, and not in the general elections in Sweden.
Anyway, we have several very interesting years ahead.
The Torrentfreak editors turned to Mathias Hellsten, author of the Piracy Unlimited blog, and a Swedish citizen for comment. Here is how he explains what is happening:
Firstly, the attack by the authorities was extremely unsuccessful - Pirate Bay remained inaccessible for only a couple of days, after which it resumed its work in full. He even strengthened his position - thanks to wide coverage of the situation in the media. Then, several sources reported that the American Cinema Association (MRAA) was the initiator of the persecution. She put pressure on Swedish government officials, in particular, on the Minister of Justice, trying to get his personal intervention in this particular situation, which is considered illegal in Sweden. It also turned out that the United States threatened Sweden with the inclusion of the country in the WTO’s blacklist for the fact that Pirate Bay’s activities were not stopped. This must have caused the Swedish authorities to act more decisively. Apparently, the prosecutor was hinted that the government "is hoping for an early resolution" of this issue. A little later, the prosecutor told the Prime Minister about the impossibility of indicting the Pirate Bay portal, but, as it seems to me, after several more letters from the American Film Association and the not so delicate hints from the US Secretary of State, he changed his opinion.
')
When the Swedish television published documents confirming the stated version , intense discussions continued in the media, thanks to which the number of people sympathizing with the pirate movement increased. The brochure outlining the main provisions of the movement, Copy me, was sold out and we are expecting a new edition in the coming days.
At the same time, the Piratbyrån server, the Swedish headquarters of the pirates, was confiscated by the police, where it remained until the next day. While Piratbyrån made legal and other attempts to return his own equipment, he managed to gather numerous support groups throughout Scandinavia, and the total number of supporters allowed an international organization to protect the interests of the movement to be established — called the Pro Piracy Lobby . Currently, PPL maintains contact with similar groups in a dozen other countries, all these groups are interested in uniting.
Secondly, the general attention to the problem has become a real tailwind for the Party of Pirates, which existed by that time for half a year. In just a few weeks, thousands of new members joined. Suddenly, the party became the largest among the movements not represented in the current parliament. In Sweden, an organization gains parliamentary seats with four percent of the vote. At the moment, the Pirates Party has almost as many members as the Green Party that supports the current government. Without the Greens, the government cannot provide a parliamentary majority. This state of affairs allows the Pirates Party to hope that, once in parliament, it will be able to play an equally significant role and thus achieve great changes. According to various unofficial estimates, which now and then appear in various sources, the Pirates Party is such a candidate for whom a young voter, who first participates in elections, will most likely cast his vote, but such an “analyst” has no value.
The success of the Swedish pirates also contributed to the appearance of pirate parties in several other countries: France, Italy, USA, Belgium, Austria, as well as Germany, Spain and Russia. Another one is being formed now in the UK. Together, they established Pirate International (
General elections will be held at the end of September, so the passions around the election campaign are increasingly heating up. The party of pirates made the decision to be guided by the existing ideology in everything, to follow the course previously chosen, to adhere to this line. Now there is no need to make any changes, all efforts will be directed at the election campaign, in this direction the main party work will be carried out until the end of the elections.
Further actions will fully depend on the results of the voting, and there are many options here.
According to the first scenario, the party will receive its 4%, among its supporters almost no one doubts that. The next step will be an attempt to gain influence during the formation of the government. In Sweden, the prime minister is elected by parliament, that is, the candidate must receive a majority of the votes of the members of the new parliament. No party ever receives such a number of seats to provide this majority, therefore the party of the government is forced to seek the support of other parties, and they in turn have the opportunity to influence the government. This is the position that the Pirates Party intends to achieve, and their further parliamentary work will depend for the most part on whether they have achieved this goal.
Outside parliament there is also something to do. If the party receives more than 2.5% of the vote, it will have government subsidies that allow you to hire several people for a full day. The amount of the subsidy increases, as I recall, with each additional half percent of the voting results. All this money, of course, will go to the salary of hired employees working to strengthen the party, as well as to develop local branches. While all members of the Party of pirates work for free, on a voluntary basis, for the sake of the idea that they all protect. A few full-time employees who could do rough work would not be in the least hindered.
Also, more and more new groups will be formed on the ground, which should help the party to “light up” in the province if it does not participate in local elections. There is still much work to be done in this direction.
It is also possible that a lot of work will require assistance to foreign parties of pirates, such assistance will be provided through the RR-International.
Speaking of long-term goals, it is worth mentioning the elections to the European Parliament in 2009, in which the Pirates Party intends to take part. It is even easier to get into this parliament, so the party may achieve more precisely in these elections, and not in the general elections in Sweden.
Anyway, we have several very interesting years ahead.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/30852/
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