Pro-piracy party soars in Swedish EU poll

(STOCKHOLM) - A Swedish pro-piracy party may win a seat in the June 7 European elections, a poll showed Thursday, as its support soars after a Stockholm court jailed the founders of filesharing site The Pirate Bay.

The Pirate Party, founded in January 2006, would win 5.1 percent of votes, compared to 0.6 percent in the 2006 general election, the DN/Synovate poll published in Sweden's daily Dagens Nyheter showed.

The party's main platform calls for a reform of copyright law, the abolition of patents, in particular pharmaceutical patents, as well as defence of civil liberties and right to privacy.

In the age group 18 to 29, the Pirate Party is Sweden's second-biggest party and fourth-biggest in the 30 to 44 year-old category, stealing most of its support from the Left and Green parties.

The biggest party in the poll was Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's conservative Moderates, with 29.7 percent.

"The issues that we represent are sorely missing, or are only fragmentarily represented, with an alarming display of lack of knowledge, and we hope to be able to bring in the legislative groups of Sweden into the 21st century," the Pirate Party said on its website.

Niklas Kaellebring, an analyst for Synovate, said many voters associate civil liberties with the European elections.

"The EU plays a very active role in issues concerning 'Big Brother' intrusions in our private lives, both on our cell phones and on the Internet," said Kaellebring.

The Pirate Party said it registered a sharp rise in membership after a Stockholm court on April 17 found the four founders of illegal filesharing site The Pirate Bay guilty of promoting copyright infringement and sentenced them to a year in jail.

The verdict topped headlines around the world.

The poll questioned 1,496 people from April 20 to 27.