Arr, The Pirates Are On Board

The Swedish Pirate Party won a seat in the European Parliament on Sunday, campaigning on a platform of reformation of copyright and patent law.

There are now pirates in the European Parliament. Or, to be precise, one of them, as Sweden’s Pirate Party captured 7.1% of the vote in their homeland to win a seat in the European Parliament.

The party, which wants reform of copyright and patent law, saw its profile greatly raised by the recent trial and conviction of the four people behind file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, which party leader Rickard Falkvinge said played a large role in getting them elected.

"The establishment is trying to prevent control of knowledge and culture slipping from their grasp,” he told the BBC.

"When the Pirate Bay got hit, people realized the wolf was outside the front door.”

"That happened one month before the ballot opened, so it had quite a rallying effect."