The Swedish Pirate Party

Piratpartiet, or as it is referred to in English, the Pirate Party was founded on January 1, 2006 by Rickard Falkvinge. The founding of the party was marked by the opening of a website which allows interested individuals to discuss citizens’ right to privacy and immaterialrätterna, a Swedish collective term for patent law, trademarks and other forms of industrial branding. In less than 48 hours, the site had received 3 million hits and by February 4, 2006 Falkvinge had collected the 1500 names needed to register the party in Sweden (1). Only two and half years later, on June 7, 2009, the Pirate Party made history by winning one of Sweden’s eighteen seats (7.1 % of the Swedish votes) in the EU-parliament election. The British newspaper, Guardian, reports that even though there is no official connection between The Pirate Bay website and the Pirate Party, the party benefitted greatly from the media coverage of the trial. The membership more than tripled during the spring and the party had, before the EU-election just a month ago, 48 000 registered members in Sweden (2). Considering the fact that Sweden has just over 9 million inhabitants and is the physical size of California this is a significant political achievement by a new party.

Reform Copyright Law
Before the EU-parliament election, the Pirate Party had established a political platform consisting of three issues: reform copyright law, abolish patent law, and to protect citizens’ right to privacy. The Pirate Party argues that none of these issues are fairly represented by either the right or the left wing parties in Sweden (3). By reforming copyright law, the Pirate Party hopes to restore the balance between promoting innovation and enhancing the culture. They propose that all non-commercial copying and file-sharing as well as p2p networking should be free and encouraged because when culture is spread it increases in value. Their proposal for using works for commercial purposes should be limited to a five year term whereas all non-commercial uses, as noted above, should be free from day one. The agenda to reform copyright also includes the abolishment of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies (4).

Reforming copyright law, as the party suggests, would certainly be a victory for libraries and heritage institutions in Europe and perhaps North America. There would simply be no more need to worry about the Fair Use doctrine and how to share resources via interlibrary loan or electronic delivery. One fundamental problem, however, is that if the law would actually change in Sweden and other European countries, there is the rest of the world to consider. It is difficult to imagine that the United States would ever adopt the Pirate Party’s aggressive copyright reform. The music and film industry would no doubt spend their last penny lobbying against such proposal. It is important to see internet piracy as a global issue and not one particular country’s problem. As we have learned from Awa in the discussion forum, China’s laws are loose and near non-existent which is a stark contrast to the United States’ complex and rather strict copyright law. In addition, European countries have their own regional copyright laws. To form a global forum and consensus around copyright might be an impossible task, but appears necessary to at least explore. Digital Management Rights technology is also adding complexity to this issue. After reading the material for unit 6, I question whether or not DRM is really necessary at all or just money and time ill spent, especially for consumers. It is on the other hand, certainly a way for the entertainment industry to control purchases made by citizens.

Abolish Patent Law
The Pirate Party argues that abolishing patent law in Europe would save lives in developing nations every day. The latest example, according to the party, is the development of the bird flu vaccine which has proceeded at an excruciatingly slow pace because pharmaceutical companies will not forego the process of applying for patents (5). The party argues that by removing patents patients will see lower costs for medicine. According to a Swedish study conducted in 2005, patent free drugs can be as much as 70 % cheaper than drugs protected by patents (6). Research conducted by Harvard’s medical schools researcher, Marcia Angell and Dean Baker at the Center for Economic and Policy Research Institute draw similar conclusion to that of the Swedish government report. for Economic and Policy Research
Another compelling reason for removing patents in Europe is the fact that the government pays for the majority of the research and subsidizes drugs for its citizen through universal health care programs. The Pirate Party also notes that the majority of larger European pharmaceutical companies spend only approximately 15% of their income on research. The rest is largely funded by government agencies. By removing patents, drugs would be cheaper and the governments in Europe can shift their expense of subsidizing drugs for individuals directly towards research of new drugs. This, the Pirate Party argues would be a win-win situation and actually increase funding for research as well as reducing costs for individuals (7).

Even though patent law is not as prevalent in everyday work at the library as copyright, it is nonetheless something that is very important. We all benefit from medical research and new innovative medicine which has the possibility to cure and aid us when ill. The Pirate Party’s suggestion to remove patents is certainly interesting and their arguments are convincing. But just like the proposal to remove copyright, there will no doubt be serious opposition from global pharmaceutical companies as well as American companies and interest groups who believe that health care is not a universal right and should remain private. As noted by Harvard lecturer, Marcia Angell, pharmaceutical companies have seen profits much higher than any other 500 Fortune companies in recent decades. She notes that in 2002 the largest 10 pharmaceutical companies averaged a 17% profit (8). It might be interesting to note that unlike the United States, most EU countries do not allow advertisements of drugs. This fact in itself saves both individuals and governments in Europe a great deal of money.


Protect privacy
The Pirate Party’s third principle involves citizens’ rights to privacy. The party claims that Europe has seen a dramatic increase of surveillance and control following the 9/11 event in the United States and this needs to be reversed and considered carefully. The party’s justification for this argument is that Europe has horrific examples of how 20th century leaders have exercised their rights to control and enforced surveillance on the population. World War II and the more recent wars in the Balkan states for instance had dire consequences for the population and did not reduced crime and or violence (9).

The third principle is perhaps the most difficult to comprehend and might the most challenging to find support for as it encompasses such as a broad range of issues. Even if most individuals prefer living in communities without the sense that a “big-brother” is constantly watching over them, it is only a natural instinct for humans who feel threaten to increase security around their borders, and at the individual level their homes. After all, who would not buy a few new locks and perhaps install a security system for the home after a robbery or home invasion. For libraries the right to privacy might affect how online resources and access to the same are saved and preserved in for the future. Computer activity is easy to detect and map and there are indeed many privacy issues to consider.

Conclusion
The Pirate Party may appear almost like a “protest” party or perhaps a joke and/or treat to established politicians and citizens. But the fact is that the Swedish seat in the EU parliament will be occupied by Christer Engström, a computer engineer in his early 50s, and not a 22 year old computer geek signals that this is not just a youth movement. European media is currently covering the rapid expansion of Pirate Party across the continent and Die Spiegel reports that the German Pirate Party is running for the next German parliament election (10). According to the Swedish Pirate Party website, the party has local organizations in 20 countries, including larger European countries such as Spain, Poland, and the UK. There is also a Pirate Party in the United States (http://www.pirate-party.us/).

It is difficult to predict the future of this new party and how successful the Swedish branch will will be in accomplishing its agenda in the EU-parliament. But it is significant that they have a voice in a democratically elected parliament and of outmost interest to individuals in favor of patent law and copyright reform.

Bibliography
1."Historia." Piratpartiet. 29 June 2009 .
2. Schofield , Jack . Guardian . 8 June. 29 June 2009 .
3. "Piratpartiet i vågmästarställning." Piratpartiet . 1 July 2009 <
.
4. "Principprogram version 3.3." Piratpartiet. 29 June 2009 .
5. "An alternative to pharmaceutical patents." Piratpartiet. July. 1 July 2009 .
6. "Läkemedelsförsäljningen i Sverige – analys och prognos." 2005. Socialstyrelsen . 1 July 2009 .
7. "An alternative to pharmaceutical patents." Piratpartiet. July. 1 July 2009 .
8. Angell , Marcia . "Excess in the pharmaceutical industry." 7 Dec. 2004. 1 July 2009 .
9. "The Pirate Party." Piratpartiet. 29 June 2009 .
10. "Sweden's Pirate Party Stands in EU Elections." Die Spiegel 17 Mar. 2009. 1 July 2009 .