Introduction – A technological development that puts people’s relationships at the center

The Pirate Party is a political party born out of the net culture and driven by a strong positive image of what the internet can do for a future joint global development.

We live in a time that is unique in human history. The Internet has decisively changed the way we live. Never before have so many people had the opportunity to communicate so easily with each other. Never before have so many people had access to so much established recorded knowledge. In addition, the network has opened up new conditions and opportunities for participation and democracy.

The Internet is the result of a technological development that put free global exchange of knowledge at the center, and which has developed into an arena where human relationships can be built and developed. An opportunity has been created for emotional bonds between people across geographical as well as social distances and borders.

The Pirate Party works for this development to become a springboard for a series of positive changes in Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world.

Piratpartiet’s has a social outlook that is characterized by openness, universalism and inclusion. We see it as society’s task to ensure that everyone can take advantage of the opportunities that the internet provides. At the same time, we are aware of the risks that abuse of the network’s possibilities can entail in the form of e.g. intrusion into personal integrity, and we see the need for legislation in cases where the values ​​we fight for are threatened by e.g. surveillance technology or abuse of monopoly-like market dominance. This view is the basis for all our opinions in the online policy area.

1. Net neutrality

The need for protection of the Internet as an open place is at least as great when it comes to protecting it from the will of corporations to create unfair market advantages as it is when it comes to protecting it from government surveillance. The principle of net neutrality is a foundation of the free web, and something that must not be compromised. Net neutrality means that internet providers may not discriminate between internet traffic for commercial reasons.

Therefore, we want to:

§1 Net neutrality is protected at EU level;

§2 The Swedish supervision of compliance with net neutrality is taken seriously;

§3 It is made clear that zero rating is a violation of net neutrality.

2. Data storage

The Pirate Party does not believe that it is defensible to force telecommunications and internet companies to store information about their customers in order to be able to hand it over to the police and security services. It is a procedure that the European Court of Justice has rejected as it conflicts with human rights. In a free and open society, it is not the state’s job to casually keep tabs on who is talking to whom and when.

Therefore, we want to:

§4 The Swedish Data Storage Act is repealed;

§5 EU initiative on new data storage directives is stopped.

3. Geographical blocking, geoblocking

The web spans all borders, and if we want to keep it free and open, we need to oppose all attempts to set up artificial geographical boundaries on the web regarding how information can be spread. This means that all forms of geoblocking should be opposed.

Therefore, we want to:

§6 Geoblocking is prohibited within the EU.

4. Spectrum

The distribution of radio spectrum is decisive for how access to the internet looks like in society. We want to see a network where all people can participate, and where no player is given a dominant market position. This means clear and transparent rules for how spectrum is allocated and used, with a clear goal of making as much bandwidth as possible available for the internet, and counteracting spectrum being sucked up and locked up by a few actors.

Therefore, we want to:

§7 Spectrum is allocated openly, transparently and to a diversity of actors;

§8 The amount of spectrum allocated for the Internet is maximized.

5. DRM

The Pirate Party wants to actively oppose the introduction, spread and use of technical systems that aim to limit citizens’ and consumers’ opportunities to use and copy digital works. Furthermore, we want to ensure that it is legal to bypass DRM restrictions where they occur.

Therefore, we want to:

§9 Legalize DRM circumvention;

§10 Legalize the manufacture and sale of tools to circumvent DRM.

6. IT and information security

More and more of our society’s functions use the internet, making our society vulnerable to digital attacks. Therefore, the Pirate Party believes that our authorities should be at the forefront of IT and information security so that we minimize the risk of these attacks and data leaks. We also want to see greater transparency in which attacks take place and how they affect society.

No matter how good we are at security, there will be serious incidents from time to time. Therefore, we need to develop the resilience of our digital systems, as well as introduce management and follow-up routines for incidents.

Therefore, we want to:

§11 A state IT accident commission is appointed and given the task of continuously making recommendations on improvements to IT and information security based on current events.