Music Ally

Anyone concerned that British democracy might have become weakened in the light of the MPs’ expenses scandal should take comfort in the news that the Pirate Party UK has been registered at the Electoral Commission.

Following in the footsteps of its counterpart in Sweden – which managed to secure a seat in the European parliament with 7.1 percent of the vote, receiving more votes from under-30s than any other Swedish party – the Pirate Party UK says “it’s time for us to tell the world that we exist, to recruit members, raise funds and gear up to fight the General Election.”

Far be it from us to be political naysayers, but with no proportional representation in the UK it’s highly unlikely that the Pirate Party UK will be facing up against the Conservative or Labour Party any time soon. Perhaps they could make a bid for the London Assembly or even a council seat – though somehow we doubt that campaigns on copyright amendments and the right to share torrent links will excite local voters quite as much as crucial issues such as how often their dustbins are emptied.

As predicted, Sweden’s Pirate Party has its first MEP this morning following the European elections this weekend. In fact, it may even have two. Exit polls suggest it captured 7.1% of votes in Sweden, which would certainly give it one seat, and perhaps two.

19% of voters under 30 said they voted for the party, which ran on an anti-copyright manifesto, making it the most popular political party in Sweden for that age group. Of course, it benefited from the verdict and subsequent fallout in the recent Pirate Bay trial.

Talking of which, forget hacking websites if you’re a Pirate Bay supporter looking to get your own back on the people who aided its prosecution. The new thing is hacking… names!

Swedish lawyer Henrik Ponten, who’s been a thorn in the Pirate Bay’s side, is now called Pirate Ponten after unknown activists changed his name. The first he knew was when the Swedish tax authority wrote to him confirming his request for a change in his personal details.

“This only makes me more convinced that I’m right,” he says. His parrot declined to comment.

A poll published in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter suggests that the country’’s Pirate Party – whose main political platform is a pro-filesharing lobby – could build enough support to win a seat in the European Parliament. Following the conviction of The Pirate Bay’’s founders, an estimated 5.1% of Swedish voters now support the Pirate Party according to a poll of around 1,500 people. Given Sweden’’s proportional representation and funding regulations, if the Pirate Party can gain more than 4% of the vote it stands a chance of a seat and government money for campaigning. With membership doubling to 30,000, The Pirate Party now claims that its youth faction is the biggest of any political party in Sweden.

Meanwhile in Italy The Pirate Bay’’s legal defeat has been welcomed by antipiracy officers representing the Italian music industry, with Enzo Mazza, president of the Italian Music Industry Federation (FIMI) saying that “the guilty verdict will strengthen the hand of the prosecutor in Italy”. Giancarlo Mancusi, a public prosecutor in the Northern Italian town of Bergamo, won a court order forcing Italian ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay, but the ruling was withdrawn after an appeal. Italy’’s highest appeal court is scheduled to re-consider the case around September; Enzo Mazza claims that “the charge is the same as the one in Sweden, so one can be optimistic about obtaining a similar verdict in Italy.”

We’ve been monitoring Twitter chatter about the Pirate Bay guilty verdict all morning, and one thread we’re picking up on is the number of Swedish people saying they’re going to vote for the Pirate Party in the upcoming European elections by way of protest.

It seems the party is well aware of that, and intends to ride any backlash all the way to Brussels. “The ruling is our ticket to the European Parliament,” candidate Christian Engström tells The Local. And he had much more to say on the trial verdict.

“When Sweden chooses to outlaw one of our most successful ambassadors, it shows the importance of our work in the Pirate Party. Elected representatives today seem to be more interested in holding back progress than representing the people. That’s something we want to change. The Pirate Bay is a unique platform for distributing culture between regular people and independent artists, and that’s something we want to preserve.”

Music industry bodies have already welcomed the guilty verdict, while industry analyst Mark Mulligan is already speculating about whether the ruling will have implications for Google and other web companies.