Piratism
Not to be confused with
actual pirates.
"Either we, as a society, decide that copyright is the greater value to society, and take active steps to give up private communications as a concept. Either that, or we decide that the ability to communicate in private, without constant monitoring by authorities, has the greater value—in which case copyright will have to give way."
"Piracy is a symptom of broken systems—no one pirates because they prefer it; they do it because it’s the only option."
Piratism, or Pirate Politics, is a syncretic
libertarian and predominantly
democratic ideology that originated in
Sweden, driven by the push for comprehensive
copyright reform or even the
abolition of copyright laws altogether.[1] Rooted in the principles of
government transparency
,
freedom of speech
, and
personal privacy, it seeks to create a society where information flows freely and without unnecessary restrictions. Strongly aligned with the ideals of the digital age, Piratism champions digitalization and the use of
e-government to
streamline governance and
empower citizens through
technology. Central to its ideology is a staunch opposition to
government regulation of
the Internet, viewing such controls as
threats to free expression, creativity, and the open exchange of ideas. By challenging traditional concepts of
intellectual property and advocating for open access to knowledge, Piratism envisions an internet and society unburdened by
corporate monopolies or
governmental overreach, adapting societal structures to the realities of the
information era.
History
"In developing countries, piracy often represents the only way people can access certain technologies or knowledge. It’s not a crime—it’s survival."
The Pirate Movement officially began on January 1, 2006, with the founding of the first Pirate Party in Sweden by
Rick Falkvinge. The party emerged as a reaction to the lack of political responsiveness during Sweden’s 2005 debates on
copyright law reform. This moment coincided with the rise of
digital platforms such as
The Pirate Bay, a Swedish-born torrenting website launched in 2003 that facilitated file-sharing on a massive scale. These platforms, often seen as a form of rebellion against
restrictive intellectual property laws, played a crucial role in sparking public discourse about the evolving role of
copyright in the
digital era, providing fertile ground for the Pirate Party's formation.
The influence of sites like The Pirate Bay extended beyond file-sharing, representing a broader critique of traditional media monopolies and the uneven accessibility of knowledge. For many, they embodied a pushback against
outdated legal frameworks that failed to account for the internet's potential as a tool for sharing
culture and
information freely. The Pirate Party leveraged these sentiments, framing its message around the need for modern copyright policies, stronger
personal privacy protections, and opposition to heavy-handed
government regulation of the Internet. As the movement gained momentum, it expanded internationally, inspiring Pirate Parties in over 40 countries and establishing itself as a voice for the
digitally empowered generation.
Despite its association with digital piracy, the Pirate Movement achieved significant political legitimacy. In
Europe, Pirate Parties found success in countries like
Czechia and
Luxembourg, where they secured seats in
national legislatures. These elected officials advanced policies that emphasized
government transparency
,
citizen participation
, and
technology-driven governance. The movement’s political achievements reached a new height in 2018 when
Zdeněk Hřib, a member of the Pirate Party in the Czech Republic, became the mayor of Prague. His election demonstrated the Pirates’ ability to evolve beyond their digital origins, tackling urban governance and public administration with the same innovative principles that defined their approach to intellectual property and privacy.
Foundations
Rights to know, Freedom of Information, and Equality
As Aaron Swartz said, scientists, librarians, and scholars can access information freely, while lower class and middle class people get locked behind unfair paywall to access knowledge (i.e. 50$ encyclopedia with 2000 pages of information.) which create unfair elitism and inaccessibility by corporations (i.e. publishers.). The basis of piratism is your rights to know anything that's locked behind expensive paywall and equality.
Free speech
The theory is that you can use copyright to stop anyone from criticizing your works because it needs the content from your works as the basis of criticism. Copyright also reduce academic discussion heavily with the same reason as the criticism part above. It hinder freedom of speech to criticise.
Personality
Piratism purposely models himself to look like a real pirate, in an attempt to "beat people to the punch" when being called a pirate. In reality, all this did was cause people to confuse him with real pirates, and now no one outside some European countries takes him seriously. He is known for pirating software and making unauthorized/free/bootleg copies or modifications of IPs, which may result in Corporatocracy or Propertarianism launching copy strikes against him (sometimes from an actual cannon for the comedic effect).
How to Draw
The flag is based on the shared symbol of pirate parties and resembles a sail.
- Draw a ball.
- Color it white.
- Draw a black vertical line in the center.
- Draw a black vertical boomerang shape on either side that touches both tips of the line.
- Cover one of the eyes with a cyberpunk eye patch (for technology and the sake of being pirate.).
- (Optional) Draw a tricorne hat.
- You are done!
Color Name | HEX | RGB | |
---|---|---|---|
White | #FFFFFF | rgb(255, 255, 255) | |
Black | #141414 | rgb(20, 20, 20) |
Relationships
Online Mateys
Direct Democracy,
Liquid Democracy &
E-Democracy - The future is upon the horizon!
Techno-Anarchism - My biggest supporter.
Anti-Authoritarianism - Good old brother, we expose these corporations together.
Civil Libertarianism - Best system. Internet freedom is human rights!!!!!
Social Liberalism - A good friend of mine who I often work with.
Social Libertarianism - Good guy, we tend to have similar policies, even if he is a bit more moderate and ambivalent.
Libertarianism &
Libertarian Socialism - I don't care about right or left, they're friends of mine.
Through some right-libertarians are Pro-IP. And Noam Chomsky is pro copyright against ChatGPT wanting information.Technoliberalism - Technology and liberty, based!
Fair Use
Hydrarchy - I'm not that kind of pirate!!! At least we agree copyright is nonsense.
Internet shall be your new sea, join us.Agorism - Disregarding copyright is absolutely based, but I'm not sure about the whole "selling krokodil" thing, not to mention you dislike electoralism.
Why is alongside night copyrighted? Aren't you supposed to goes against copyright?Anarcho-Communism - GNU is based, but I don't know about the whole "no government" and "communism" thing.
Putinism &
Dengism - Authoritarian cunts, trying to regulate the Internet.
Wait, you actively encourage all form of piracy? Oh right, because of the war and economic...Left-Wing Market Anarchism - Carson likes me, but I don't know about "free market", "socialism", and "no gubberment" things.
Anarcho-Capitalism - You like to commit piracy, freedom, and black markets but some of you guys protect themselves property so hard I don't know what to think about you guys.
Copyrighters
Corporatocracy - How does it feel to see all your files get downloaded and leaked without you getting a single penny from it? Cope, you big corporations are all losers.
Authoritarian Capitalism - The only reason piracy is not as successful. You're literally
him.
Police Statism - Copying was not, is not, and will continue to not be theft. Cope, you pig.
How about you cyberpolice get some soup of malwares?Japanese LDPism - Let me use Dolphin Emulator and play my Pokemon ROM hacks/fan games in peace!
Propertarianism - You say that what I do is stealing. If so, who's getting without a copy of your product? The way I see it, you're just a greedy cunt who can't stand the fact that you won't get paid for what you know is an overly-priced product.
Neoconservatism - The people shall know the truth. Assange and Snowden are heroes!
Trudeauism - Trying to soft-censor the Internet out of blind patriotism is just plain stupid. Ditch bill C-11![2]
Avaritionism - You steal the IPs of others, yet hunt down anyone who violates your intellectual property. You're truly the apex of the hypocrisy.
Authoretardians - LET ME PLAY MY PIRATED 1984 IN PEACE!
Authoretardians Cuckservatards - If I'm going to watch pirated porn, then I shall.
Juche - I'm going to listen to pirated K-pop songs, problem?
Totalitarianism - Give me my pirate site back! Give back the site! Give back the bay you monster! And I'm pirating 1984 without your permission!
Further Information
Literature
- The Case For Copyright Reform by
Rick Falkvinge
- No Safe Harbor: Essays on Pirate Politics edited by Andrew Norton and Bradley Hall
- Culture vs. Copyright by Anatoly Volynets
- Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto by Aaron Swartz
Wikipedia
- Pirate Party
- List of Pirate Parties
- Pirate Parties International
- European Pirate Party
- Online Piracy
- The Pirate Bay
- Napster
- Open-source software
- Piratbyran
- Kopimism
- Anti-copyright
- Copyright abolition
- Copyleft
- Criticism of patents
- Free-culture movement
- Information wants to be free
Videos
- You Hate all these Companies for the SAME Reason and Creators Shouldn't Own Their Creations, and Here's Why. by Uniquenameosaurus
- Why Artists Shouldn't Own Their Art by
LiquidZulu
- Piracy Should Always Be An Option by
ShortFatOtaku
- Video Game Piracy Is Good, Actually