https://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article671131.ece
The Swedish Pirate Party is to stand in this summer’s European elections to battle for the freedom of information.
Restrictive rules for patents and copyrights result in the
detrimental monitoring of citizens, according to the Swedish Pirate
Party, which is fielding 20 candidates in this summer’s European
elections.
»If the politicians want to prevent ordinary citizens from
sharing films, music and other forms of culture, they have to
constantly expand the ability to monitor – because as soon as the
authorities close down one culture-sharing facility, another pops up
very quickly,« says Christian Engström, who is the primary candidate
for the party.
Monitoring has already gone too far, Engström feels.
»There is a law on the way in Sweden which is already in force
in Denmark. Rights owners to a film, for example, can demand the name
of the person who pays for an internet connection if they are able to
track a person uploading or downloading films illegally,« Engström
says.
EU battle
The Swedish pirates say that the battle for freedom of information
is to be fought in the European Union because: “It is here that most of
the legislation in this field comes from.”
The party does not, however, want to get rid of all forms of
rights to books, music and film. The dividing line should be between
commercial and non-commercial use.
»Companies should be able to take out a patent on a television
advertisement, but private citizens should be able to use books or
music for their own use,« Engström explains.
