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Italian town of Bergamo, won a court order forcing Italian ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay, but the ruling was withdrawn after an appeal.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.”
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In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…