I'm all for radicals, but I hope that they don't get elected.
The abolition fo patent laws would be too damaging to Swedish industry.

Yeah, people shouldn't have rights to their ideas and to sell them, that would be foolish.

I'm Swedish and the next election will be the first one I'm now old enough to participate in. Should I vote for them? Probably not, but I'm not at all happy with what has happened to The Pirate Bay.

So you hurt the pirates, then they get stronger...like smashing popeye in the face with a can of spinach

The abolition of patents is one of those ideas that will get softened up when it comes time for application.

They will see that abolition is not feasible or even reasonable and they will surely compromise on a reform.

They're radicals, they don't really plan on getting elected. Like most radical parties I doubt they have any real ideas for stuff outside of their focus area (e.g. how would they allocate the govt budgets if they had to do it? What tax policies will they follow?)

Yeah, they've said openly that they will support any party that supports their issues.

I'd vote for the Pirate Party.
Hope we get one in Norway too:)
Until then I guess I'll vote for SV (Socialistic Left Party).

pantsoffdanceoff:
Yeah, people shouldn't have rights to their ideas and to sell them, that would be foolish.

I agree with the philosophy behind patent law, however the people getting rich off of patents usually aren't the people who had the ideas in the first place.

... the abolition of patents...

Um... no. That doesn't make any sense, people should be able to make money off their ideas. This party just wants to be able to steal things.

Skrapt:

pantsoffdanceoff:
Yeah, people shouldn't have rights to their ideas and to sell them, that would be foolish.

I agree with the philosophy behind patent law, however the people getting rich off of patents usually aren't the people who had the ideas in the first place.

Yes, better to just steal it to ensure that nobody's happy.

(Note the sarcasm)

"clearly legal"...

Sorry, but I don't quite find it clear...

Skrapt:

pantsoffdanceoff:
Yeah, people shouldn't have rights to their ideas and to sell them, that would be foolish.

I agree with the philosophy behind patent law, however the people getting rich off of patents usually aren't the people who had the ideas in the first place.

Sure they are. They just wait and wait until someone else makes their idea successful, and then sues their ass off. It's less work that way.

Can't say I'm too fond of radicals, it's hard to filter out good ideas from a mass of faddish idiots.

Beeing a swede myself im pretty amazed to be reading this information here at the escapist. Although I dont support piratpartiet so much myself I give them one cheer for the effort, because it may be needed to make things shift if even a little

CoverYourHead:

... the abolition of patents...

Um... no. That doesn't make any sense, people should be able to make money off their ideas. This party just wants to be able to steal things.

You don't make sense. You clearly don't know the purpose of patent laws. People have been making money on their ideas and selling them for far longer than patents have existed. Patent laws, in this day and age, are so dangerous and misused, that they often hinder the very things they mean to promote - creativity and innovation. Patent law NEEDS to be reformed or completely abolished.

To claim that "these guys just want to steal" is nothing short of ignorance. You can't make that false assertion without reading what they actually stand for.

I may not agree that patent law needs to be abolished, but greedy and already rich people are trying to get patent law extended, and I think it needs a better leash. I definitely see the use in patents, but considering all the misuse that I read about happening on a daily basis, it needs to be reformed and it needs to be less... encompassing. I get a chill down my spine every time I read a story like this.

I think we're beginning to realize that our previous conception of copyright is rapidly breaking down. The internet has created a change that most people are unable and/or unwilling to accept. At some point, people are going to have to realize that they're being left behind by the nature of the medium. Enforcement is starting to become impossible, purely because of numbers. I think the war on piracy that the MPAA and the IFPI and other anti-piracy groups are fighting is as doomed as the US' war on drugs. Some people have started to figure out alternatives. Shepard Fairy (the Obama Hope guy) advocates reproduction of his images. Stardock does not include DRM in its games. Radiohead sold its album for a "pay what it's worth to you" system.

Ultimately, I think it's idiotic to fight and struggle against piracy through courts and governmental institutions. We're going to have to accept that in the face of a medium which makes everything both easily available and cheap (to the extent of free) that the traditional mode of payment for services/product may go up in smoke (and may have already). I'm not necessarily advocating piracy. I think it is an unavoidable by-product of the medium. Those who cannot adapt will perish.

Also, just as an addendum, I sincerely doubt that this will kill off smaller companies. Maybe the current small companies. But new ones will crop up. The fact is smaller companies are, by necessity, more innovative than larger companies. They're smarter about opening up alternative revenue streams because they have fewer available options. That's why small companies are bought up by bigger companies all the time. Its capitalist competition at its finest. When a big company and a small company go after the same revenue stream, the big company always wins. Small companies focus their efforts on revenue sources that big companies can't reach (and thus the impetus for big companies to buy them). The most successful small companies become big companies as a result.

Get your facts straight. They don't promote piracy. What they do want is updated copyright and patent laws. The ones we have now are OBVIOUSLY fubar. No more lobby companies acting like the police, more money to the actual artists.

HobbesMkii:
I think we're beginning to realize that our previous conception of copyright is rapidly breaking down. The internet has created a change that most people are unable and/or unwilling to accept. At some point, people are going to have to realize that they're being left behind by the nature of the medium. Enforcement is starting to become impossible, purely because of numbers. I think the war on piracy that the MPAA and the IFPI and other anti-piracy groups are fighting is as doomed as the US' war on drugs. Some people have started to figure out alternatives. Shepard Fairy (the Obama Hope guy) advocates reproduction of his images. Stardock does not include DRM in its games. Radiohead sold its album for a "pay what it's worth to you" system.

Ultimately, I think it's idiotic to fight and struggle against piracy through courts and governmental institutions. We're going to have to accept that in the face of a medium which makes everything both easily available and cheap (to the extent of free) that the traditional mode of payment for services/product may go up in smoke (and may have already). I'm not necessarily advocating piracy. I think it is an unavoidable by-product of the medium. Those who cannot adapt will perish.

Also, just as an addendum, I sincerely doubt that this will kill off smaller companies. Maybe the current small companies. But new ones will crop up. The fact is smaller companies are, by necessity, more innovative than larger companies. They're smarter about opening up alternative revenue streams because they have fewer available options. That's why small companies are bought up by bigger companies all the time. Its capitalist competition at its finest. When a big company and a small company go after the same revenue stream, the big company always wins. Small companies focus their efforts on revenue sources that big companies can't reach (and thus the impetus for big companies to buy them). The most successful small companies become big companies as a result.

Hobbes here makes many good points. Good show. That having been said, to make games these days costs MUCHO DINERO, hence the anti-piracy bandwagon that the devs jump on, along with the propogation of terrible DRM. They're attempting to preserve their investments, and it's slowly becoming futile. Hopefully companies start to realize this, and find some good way of dealing with the situation.

nilcypher:

And the really sad thing is, this will not hurt the 'blood thirsty media companies' that they so despise anywhere near as much as small developers who aren't shipping to every market.

Sad? why?
Because people want change for themselves and not by appointing one person to do the work for them? (ie. a new president)

By actively joining a political party there will be a revolution not only to make a change politically but also culturally.

No longer will people bitch and moan in forums, but actually engage in educated and civil dialogue in courts and public gatherings so laws and reforms will actually have a real impact.

Sad is when people can't foresee a real and ongoing threat to privacy and huge corporations leeching and sucking the life out of innovation and development.

scotth266:

Hobbes here makes many good points. Good show. That having been said, to make games these days costs MUCHO DINERO, hence the anti-piracy bandwagon that the devs jump on, along with the propogation of terrible DRM. They're attempting to preserve their investments, and it's slowly becoming futile. Hopefully companies start to realize this, and find some good way of dealing with the situation.

The magic word, DRM, thank you for bringing that up. What a way to insult paying customers.

Steam is a great platform, unfortunately there's a lot of problems with it, as you travel to different places, you can't just click a game and play it, you forcefully have to be connected to the internet, then do x, y and z, and you may enjoy the game you paid for.

On the other hand, piracy (again) makes this process nonexistent.

Am i promoting piracy? no, i dont have a problem in paying for good games and telling people they should do the same to support their favorite developers.

What i want is to be able to be free to access what i paid for whenever i want.

And if piracy means getting a crack to get to what i paid for (entertainment)... Arrrrrr matey ;)

Areani:
I'm Swedish and the next election will be the first one I'm now old enough to participate in. Should I vote for them? Probably not, but I'm not at all happy with what has happened to The Pirate Bay.

Why not?

Minority parties are at their most effective (at furthering a particular issue) when their existence and rising support threaten the major parties' powerbase, and force the major parties to address the issue seriously. Do you think major Swedish parties could use a kick in the pants? Unless you find a candidate you *really* like, it's better to vote for people who stir shit up (such as PP) and hope there's a good candidate next time, than vote for the guy who "isn't quite as evil as the other guy". Doing the latter leads out of democracy, into a monstrous consensus of few ruling parties where votes are as good as toilet paper.

Nutcase:

Minority parties are at their most effective (at furthering a particular issue) when their existence and rising support threaten the major parties' powerbase, and force the major parties to address the issue seriously. Do you think major Swedish parties could use a kick in the pants? Unless you find a candidate you *really* like, it's better to vote for people who stir shit up (such as PP) and hope there's a good candidate next time, than vote for the guy who "isn't quite as evil as the other guy". Doing the latter leads out of democracy, into a monstrous consensus of few ruling parties where votes are as good as toilet paper.

It's sad that this makes so much sense... if the Pirate Party doesn't get a good few votes the politicians will keep on legislating excessively on the sides of the copyright holders with no concerns for privacy or consumer rights until they realize that they might lose their seat because they are alienating the voters.

To sum everything up we (the majority) are basically saying; GO GO GO PIRATE BAY!

nilcypher:

CapnJack:

To claim that "these guys just want to steal" is nothing short of ignorance. You can't make that false assertion without reading what they actually stand for.

That's technically true, but only technically. Piratpartiet platform is based around the idea that there should be no such thing as copyright when talking about personal use. Which means that what we currently refer to as piracy, would be perfectly legal.

This raises an interesting question for games, as 'personal use' defines most aspects of gaming. If publishers are no longer able to prevent people from sharing their games, what motivation do they have to release the game in the first place? Essentially, one person in the country would need to buy it and then that person could freely distribute it to anyone who wanted it.

The only model I can think off that would let the publishers make their money back is by making games ad supported, but I shudder to think at how many ads it would take to break even on a triple A title, let alone make a profit. Unless of course the publisher decides not to release it for retail, but makes it solely available for internet-café style gaming establishments.

And the really sad thing is, this will not hurt the 'blood thirsty media companies' that they so despise anywhere near as much as small developers who aren't shipping to every market.

They don't want to abolish copyright the want to shorten it to 10-5 years.

If you people like i could provide a translation of their ideas from their homepage?

I dont really see the point in fighting piracy, its ALWAYS going to be around

i like to look at it this way, anything that i have downloaded in the past has either been a tv show that doesn't run any more and isn't on DVD or music that i like one or two songs on the CD and i feel its not worth buying

so really, if im not going to be giving my money to these greedy huge companies then in MY opinion its ok :)

redmarine:
GO GO GO PIRATE BAY!

I wonder if it would be a good idea with statefinanced culture?

Higher taxes in exchange for all the culture you want. The artist would always have a guaranteed paycheck. No record companies that take most of the money.