File sharing has become even more politicized, following the Pirate Bay verdict, in which the four founders were sentenced to a year in prison and £2.4 million in damages. This is bad news for the convicted, but France 24 reports the consequences are just peachy for Piratpartiet, a Swedish political party whose goal is “a free internet in an open society.” In fact, after the verdict was read, the party’s membership list swelled to over 38,000 names, making it the fourth-largest party in Sweden.
Piratpartiet’s candidate for the European Union elections, Christian Engström, explained the party’s goals to France 24: “Our goal is to win at least one seat in the European Parliament. To this end, we need to collect some 100,000 signatures.”
Engström hopes to represent the interests of European artists on the larger Brussels stage because, as he says, “The industry has had 10 years to adapt and revamp its economic model, but this hasn’t happened.”
For more on Sweden’s Piratpartiet, click here.