People learn by copying other people. All the knowledge we have today, all the progress we’ve made, are based on this simple fact – we copy.
For thousands of years we’ve improved our possibilities to collect and distribute information. There’s always been fighting about the control of the information, from the old antique libraries and todays internets. Libraries has been burned down, book burnings has taken place. The nazi regime considered it as morally righteous to exterminate “the ungerman spirit” by burning books that had other views. Todays copyright regime talks about the disallowing the digital spirit. A spirit of free access to information and knowledge, only embettering our society. Today book burnings are done digitally, by blocking or closing down internet services that the information controllers deem immoral.
But the society is constantly changing. Today we might associate the term “digital” with movies and music. But most of our society is becoming more digital! One can already print car parts, bicycles or clothes with thing printers (3d printers). Research on how to print meat and other foods are so far it’s becoming a reality to feed people this way.
The companies that will get hit by the thing printers (and other new technology) will look at how we’ve previously dealt with it. They will also want laws in place to prevent the new technology from ruining them. They will do just as the movie and music companies have done, try to criminalize the future.
Right now these companies say they need to stop piracy to protect consumers from dangerous things such as exploding batteries or illegal medicines – or for that matter viruses in movies you’ve downloaded. In the future the viruses will be said to be in the food you illegally downloaded to feed your family, instead of paying the food license to a big company. It’s not about the consumers safety, it’s about control and power. It’s about money.
The cells in my body are copies of my parents cells. Vaccines they might have been given might also protect me. At the same time as this is reality, we allow companies to have insane patents on genes. There are for instance illuminated fish that is not allowed to mate, since it will break patent law. With a society that allows this to happen, are we also going to allow these companies the same rights in our own bodies?
During most of my life I’ve been working with the topic of information. From my early childhood when I copied programs from friends to learn how to program, until today when I’m using those skills as an activist, creating important internet services. One of those was The Pirate Bay, the biggest informational exchange in the world. A service that scares Hollywood so much that the White House went to Sweden and said they would stop trading with them if the country didn’t put an end to The Pirate Bay. No laws was broken, but Sweden still tried to stop it. After an illegal raid, carried out by a police officer that during the investigation was also an employee of two of these Hollywood companies, there was one of the biggest trials in Sweden. The judge was the chairman of a pro-copyright organisation lobbying for harder control of information, sponsored by some of the companies from Hollywood. I was sentenced to prison and one of the highest fines in Swedish legal history. The crime was aiding with aiding with informational exchange that might have happened without permission somewhere in the world.
We from the North have a view of our systems to be ethical and fair. This court case made people re-consider that view. It was made obvious, power belongs to the people with money. It’s not a society I want to have!
I am doing what I can to help solve the problems we have today just as well as the ones we will have in the future. That’s why I’ve decided to participate in the election for the EU-parlament 2014. Even though I’m not a politician, or maybe due to that, I think that my experiences and knowledge could help create the solutions we’re in diar need of.
Power over our society must be handed out by a democracy. The people are to decide which rules and laws that should exist, not corrupted companies. We have to sacrifice some things that we don’t need anymore in order to make way for the improved version.
Those who know me personally know that I fight for a lot of things. I’m a vegetarian and thus I want better animal protection and food regulations. I’m worried of the centralisation of power to the EU, as well as the centralisation of personal information to big companies. I want a working social safety net, great education for all, no matter gender nor background. I believe that tomorrows class inequalities are based on what kind of access to information and knowledge people get. I always put up a hard fight and I never give in to authority just for the sake of it. Just as The Pirate Bay was never gave up, I never do so either.
I usually call myself a socialist, green and a pirate. With my quite varied background as (among other things) a hacker, activist, artist and a DJ I don’t really fit in to a normal political party. That’s why I’ve decided to put in my candidacy with a party that, with being focused on few issues, fits what I want to achieve, Piraattipuolue (The Finnish Pirate Party). I think there’s a huge possibility for us to impact the EU and I would like to be part of it.
Today The Pirate Party has two parlamentarians in the EU, both from Sweden. They are the only two there really focusing on what I see as the base for the future of our society. These topics are important globally, not just in Sweden. And my home country of Finland is even more dependent on the future of the digital, so I think it’s time for Finland to get a pirate into the EU!
25 comments ↓
Oh man, I suddenly knew who I would vote for in the next EU election, and then you took it away in the end. Oh, well. Will try to support the swedish pirate party in the EU election again then.
Wish you well in the elections. Surely you will get lots of media attention. You might better your chances if you tried to get all the small parties to have a common list of candidates, as not many are chosen from a small country and the larger parties will use a lot of money in advertising. Though you might try to use pirate bay as a free advertising platform?
I also wish you would be for swiss-styled direct democracy where people have the option to decide, instead of corrupt politicians.
Since, in case you are elected, you will be representing Finland, here is a crash course in history.
http://www.sci.fi/~eiry/
I don’t know if you speak Finnish, but google translate might help. The page tells about how Finns were and are considered to be a lower race. Schools do not much tell pupils about the history, ruling classes do not wish to tell the truth.
Another:
http://www.suomalaisuudenliitto.fi/Lehdet/Itamaasta_itsenaisyyteen.pdf
Also I think you should go and call Kim Dotcom to be a rival candidate in your party. He apparently too has Finnish citizenship?
It would about be time to have Finns be proud of their country instead of always being ashamed of it.
Here some more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExWBNdSvN0
Read the text below video (with google search soklin kaivos, that was only on first page that told about it. Finns gave away for free to a Norwegian company a whole mine, worth several billions (or milliards am not sure which one is right in English) – there is no African corrupt country at all that gave for free – in Finland, the corruption is so institutionalized that almost nobody dares speak about it.
Behöver man ansöka om finskt medborgarskap för att kunna rösta på dig nu 😛
Du har haft min röst väldigt länge nu.
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This is really great news!
The pirate movement needs representatives from many different countries in the EU and having such a wellknown person in the finnish pirateparty makes it more probable that it gets a seat. I would really enjoy seeing you and Amelia as a tag team debating the crap out of the opposition 🙂
Good luck in the election Peter.
This is a really good piece of news!
It doesn’t matter witch country you live in. By voting on your countrys Pirate Party you support Peter’s cause. A cause for a better future. And the more Pirates there are in the EU/worlds parliaments the easier it will be. Vote Pirate!
[…] Pirate Bay co-founder wants to run as a candidate for the Finnish Pirate Party, he said in a blog post on Tuesday announcing his candidacy to the European Union’s directly-elected legislative […]
[…] Pirate Bay co-founder wants to run as a candidate for the Finnish Pirate Party, he said in a blog post on Tuesday announcing his candidacy to the European Union’s directly-elected legislative […]
Fantastic Peter… Simply fantastic.
I’m working with the Young Pirates in Malmö here in Sweden and my biggest inspirational source for doing so is you. I really hope that you will achive success in the election because I know there are lots of people that belive in you.
We’re both vegetarian, green socialists aswell as pirates… It’s a very worthy cause that you’re fighting for. You can’t have education without information so keep on copying and be happy! Good luck Peter. Let us know if you need any help.
Wishing here that I was a finnish national..but that’s not it.
It’s about time world’s government had a member who could understand that Internet is not just a network.
And the true meaning of sharing..across humanity.
Wishing for your sincere Victory! 🙂
pst: Anakata has to be there too..pretty sure that he’ll blow the competition out of water 😀
Great news! Thank you, Peter, for this contribution to the Pirate Party movement, more important now than ever before.
[…] Pirate Bay co-founder wants to run as a candidate for the Finnish Pirate Party, he said in a blog post on Tuesday announcing his candidacy to the European Union’s directly-elected legislative […]
I wish you the best of luck!
Jättekul att du ställer upp i valet och en skitbra idé.
Messa mig och berätta hur jag kan hjälpa till.
[…] Pirate Bay co-founder wants to run as a candidate for the Finnish Pirate Party, he said in a blog post on Tuesday announcing his candidacy to the European Union’s directly-elected legislative […]
[…] Link: EUP 2014 (Copy me happy) […]
[…] EUP 2014 (Copy me […]
[…] – Con una digressione pindarica sul nuovo valore culturale della copia, l’ex-portavoce di The Pirate Bay Peter Brokep Sunde […]
Great, now I know who to vote for 🙂
@Willie try to be a bit more objective when choosing links, most of that stuff is just right-wing nationalist viewpoints.
[…] – Con una digressione pindarica sul nuovo valore culturale della copia, l’ex-portavoce di The Pirate Bay Peter Brokep Sunde […]
[…] Sunde, who describes himself on his blog as a ‘socialist, green and a pirate’, was born in Sweden but also has Finnish and Norwegian […]
Vad jag minns var det inte särskilt höga böter du fick. Syftar du på skadeståndet föreslår jag att du gör det uttryckligt istället för att kalla det för böter.