“If politicians want to prevent ordinary citizens from sharing files, they will constantly have to expand their ability to monitor," Engstrm said in a telephone interview. “It's necessary to reform the copyright legislation to ensure that citizens' right to privacy is respected."
Founded by copyright activists in early 2006, the Pirate Party believes people should be able to freely copy books or music for private use. The party is dedicated to radical reform of copyright law, abolition of the patent system and guaranteed online privacy rights. But despite an agenda near and dear to much of Sweden's youth, the party put in a dismal showing in the Swedish national election in 2006, winning only 0.63 percent of the votes.
But times have changed, says Engstrm. There's growing outrage in Sweden over draconian new anti-privacy legislation, and the recent trial of The Pirate Bay in Stockholm earned saturation-level media coverage. The party's rank-and-file has swelled over the last year, and with 12 ,000 members, the Pirate Party is now larger than the small but well-established Swedish Left Party and the Swedish Green Party. The party's youth section, “Young Pirates," is currently the second biggest political youth group in Sweden.
Engstrm, a 48-year-old father living in Nacka, a wealthy suburb of Stockholm, believes that support gives him and his fellow candidates a real shot at the European Parliament. Elections in EU's 27 member states will be held between June 4 and June 7, 2009. The European Parliament is the only directly elected body of the European Union and plays an active role in drafting legislation from its headquarters in Brussels.
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