On June 7, 2009, Swedish voters elected a member of the PiratPartiet (Pirate Party) to the European Parliament.
The Pirates made the copyright and patent concerns of the free software community part of public discourse for the first time anywhere, and did so using social media techniques that caught their opponents completely unaware.

"We wish to change global legislation to facilitate the emerging information society, which is characterised by diversity and openness. We do this by requiring an increased level of respect for the citizens and their right to privacy, as well as reforms to copyright and patent law.

Stallman published a post on the GNU website entitled “How the Swedish Pirate Party Platform Backfires on Free Software“. And, oh boy, I just have to comment.

On June 7, 2009, Swedish voters elected a member of the PiratPariet (Pirate Party) to the European Parliament. A second parliamentary seat will go to the Pirate Party this fall if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified and Sweden gains an additional two seats.

"Since the revelation that the judge in the case against The Pirate Bay has socialized with the lawyers of the copyright lobby and is a member of the Association for Copyright, the Pirate Party is outright furious..."

" The Free Software Foundation's Richard Stallman will speak on 'Copyright vs. Community in the Age of Computer Networks' at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at Cabrillo College....«Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press,» Stallman said. «But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it…if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright—to promote progress, for the benefit of the public—then we must make changes in the other direction.» ..."

A not-so-overly-alarmist reminder of how monopolies are taking over society using self-serving laws and establishments, including the patent office

Richard Stallman made an unexpected appearance at a European Patent Office presentation in Brisbane today.

Stallman, pictured, who was also due to address the World Computer Congress later in the day, carried a placard that said: "Don't get caught in software patent thickets".

"Richard Stallman's tour of New Zealand has covered issues of copyright and the free software movement. He is fervently against restrictions on sharing, saying such restrictions are an attack on society.

In this must-hear speech on copyright, Stallman introduces the foundation principles of the Free Software movement and then discusses the origins, uses and abuses of the laws of copyright..."