San Francisco - Sweden's Pirate Party, a grassroots political party started with the aim of changing intellectual property laws to lessen copyright powers, has seen its influence migrate overseas, as last week the Pirate Party of the United States announced its formation in Utah, CNET News.com reported.

Sweden's Pirate Party grew out of consumers' frustration over police actions against The Pirate Bay, an unaffiliated free file-sharing hub.

By last September, the group had added 10,000 members, but garnered only 35,000 of the 225,000 votes in the country's parliamentary elections needed to obtain a seat in parliament.

"The aim of the Pirate Party is to change intellectual property laws globally...Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world in that order," Rickard Falkvinge, the former Microsoft technologist who founded Sweden's Pirate Party, told News.com.

"Fledgling pirate parties are now in many countries...When we reach our first major political victory, such as taking seats in parliament, pirates across the world will see we can do something."

"Generating media attention is pretty much all that this group has done," Patrick Ross, a spokesman for the Copyright Alliance -- whose members include record labels and movie studios -- told News.com.

"They haven't accomplished anything. They haven't swayed anybody. They certainly won't have any impact on this country."

In the U.S., the Pirate Party of Utah has until February to generate the 2,000 signatures of registered voters needed to be recognized as an official political party in the state.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2x44vt (CNET)

http://www.pirate-party.us/node/370

http://www.piratpartiet.se/the_pirate_party