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13 Aug, 2013 22:27

To stop file-sharing, one needs to intercept all internet traffic

Copyright laws are outdated and need reforming to catch up with reality, but traditional parties do not want to discuss it, states the leader of Sweden's Pirate Party, Anna Troberg.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the flagship pirate website The Pirate Bay has released a modified browser intended to circumvent censorship. The leader of Sweden's Pirate Party, the history of which is very closely tied to that of Pirate Bay, spoke with RT about this somewhat extraordinary voyage.

RT:You have seen all the prosecution and even persecution of the Pirate Bay. How is it still around?

Anna Troberg: It is actually quite amazing that the Pirate Bay is still alive. I mean it’s been around for 10 years and 10 years is an eternity in internet time. Also, as you said it has been persecuted by a lot of copyright industry companies - especially from America, Hollywood – and music industry. But they managed to stay alive through a lot of tricks. 

Swedish Pirate party has been helping them for about three years to stay online. But I also think that the copyright industry will have a very hard time trying to close them down even in the future. 

RT:Copyright lobbies are driven by the commercial impact of pirated material. The United States and the EU flourish on commerce. How can your party - which advocates less stringent copyright laws - hope to fit in?

AT: We want to reform the copyright laws because they are old now. The world has changed so much just in past 10 to 15 years since the internet really grew big not only in Europe and America but also in the rest of the world. The copyright has to be reformed: it has to be possible for people to copyright material and to share it with their friends. And it should also be of no harm to the copyright industry. Basically, copyright works as PR. So it’s a really good thing. 

We want to have the copyright law that works with the time and with the users, and with people who love culture and want to share it and not work against it. 

Anna Troberg (Photo by Michael Kazarnowicz)

RT:At the core - your party focuses on the free flow of information. How does surveillance figure in your party's thinking?

AT: The right to personal integrity is incredibly important for the Pirate Party. It’s also very closely linked to file-sharing, because if you want to stop file-sharing, someone somewhere needs to know everything that you and me send and receive with our computers. 

You all know what we do with computers today: we work over the internet, we date over the internet, we buy things, and we communicate with our friends. So, to have someone monitoring everything that you do online is a huge integrity infringement. 

We had [NSA leaker] Edward Snowden revealing the American spying on the internet. And it’s a huge problem that we need to deal with – a problem that the whole world has to deal with since it’s not something that only American citizens are targeted with, but something that everyone who uses the internet is potentially targeted with.  

RT:And how has this surveillance scandal in the US affected your party and its support? How much does the public care?

AT: I think the public cares a lot. The problem for my party and for other people who are interested in maintaining right to your private life and your right to personal integrity is that traditional parties do not really want to talk about these issues. They have their own surveillance scandals. 

In Sweden we have something called the FRA law which also [authorizes] kind of state monitoring of, among other things, internet activity. 

So, the traditional parties do not want to discuss it and that is a problem for us because in order to have a political debate you need a counterpart; you can’t debate with yourself. That is our challenge – to try and get the message out to people even though no other party in Sweden wants to discuss these things.




The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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