Pirate Party Declaration of Principles/2.0/Background
Background
It is said that copyrights promote the creation of culture and no one seems to question it. We do. We claim that this widely held belief is false and that our common culture is being suffocated by copyrights.
Apart from this, we can point to the horrible fact that on July 1st, 2005, our own government criminalized over a million citizens by changing copyright in a direction that points far away from public opinion.
We also claim that patents suffocate innovation. By creating a monopoly on knowledge, they stifle competition and prevent development, not to mention the ways they are being abused by patent holders.
Last but definitely not least is the question of privacy. Sweden is on course for a society where every citizen is being constantly supervised by the government. We intend to change that course.