German pirate party wins 14 seats in Berlin state parliament

Dissatisfaction with the state of copyright and digital rights laws across Europe has been growing for some time, and self-proclaimed pirate parties have cropped up in several countries to confront what they see as unfair and heavy-handed legislation.

The UK arm even stood for election, with little success, but was given cause for optimism over the weekend after exit polls from state elections in Berlin indicated that the German pirate party had secured an amazing 8.9 per cent of the vote.

This entitled the Piraten Partei to 14 seats in the regional parliament, giving it the chance to vote on all sorts of future laws and regulations, including those relating to digital media and copyright.

The UK Pirate Party welcomed the historic news. Education spokesperson Tim Dobson, in attendance in Berlin, argued that it underlined demand across Europe for a new type of politician who understands the web.

"This result shows that the desire for a new politics and digital rights fit for the 21st century continues to grow throughout Europe. Equally, the people of Berlin have realised that it is about time their politicians understand the internet better," he said.

"Pirate Party UK is inspired by the hard work of all the activists that made this result possible, and sends its warmest congratulations. We will be following our German partner's success with new candidates and a more comprehensive policy platform."

Whether the UK public will follow the Germans is debatable given the group's poor showing at the polls in 2010, but the success of the Piraten Partei indicates an underlying frustration at how politicians deal with the new era of technology.

And with more young people growing up in a world where use of the internet and other technologies is second nature, there will be nowhere to hide for those in power who don't understand or embrace the rapid changes.

The fact that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day is just the icing on the cake, me hearties.

19 Sep 2011