Pirate Party swashbuckles into Finnish politics
Found on Yahoo on Wednesday, 19 August 2009
The Pirate Party, which first rose to prominence in Sweden during June's European elections, has now been officially launched in Finland, the group's leader said on Wednesday.
Copyright holder organisations in Finland were outraged at the news of the group's formation.
"We are absolutely against the idea that any political party can give their support to the idea of free use of protected content," said Arto Alaspaeae, the director of IFPI Finland (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).
At some point in the past, some political parties gave their support to the fight of slavery. While some still are absolutely against that idea, it has turned out to be the right choice. People are angry enough about the current status of filesharing, copyright and patent abuse to raise and make changes. That's perfectly fine and, sorry, perfectly legal. Whether the industry likes that idea or not doesn't matter at all; they are the reason why the Pirate Party was started.