The Pirate Party was formed mainly by illegal downloaders and torrent enthusiasts but it has now become Swedens third largest political party. It has tripled its ranks in only three weeks up to 44,000 members, and it’s on course to become the second largest political part in the country. It was founded in January, 2006, and is running for office in this autumn's general elections. The party only has three issues on its agenda: shared culture, free knowledge, and protected privacy.
The explosive growth is attributed to the Pirate Bay verdict which saw four of the defendants, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Carl Lundstrom, accused of copyright infringement laws being sentenced to a year in jail each. In addition $3.6 million in damages is to be paid to the copyright holders.
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