TorrentBR

Yesterday we reported that the Swedish Left Party voted in favor of a motion that would legalize the uploading and downloading of copyrighted material for personal use, as long as it is not done for commercial purposes. This is a clear indication that at least some politicians are still in touch with reality.

Next week, the Swedish parliament will vote on a new “wiretapping” law that may severely invade the privacy of Swedish citizens. If the new law is passed, all email, web traffic and phone calls will be monitored by the FRA, the National Defence Radio Establishment, without the need for court orders or similar authorization.

As always, one of the arguments in favor of such legislation is that it will be easier to hunt down terrorists. However, there’s a huge fear this will be used in the wrong way, to track down whistle-blowers for example.

That aside, the law is also a huge invasion of people’s privacy, both online and offline. The Swedish parliament will vote on this proposal on June 17th, and The Pirate Bay is urging their Swedish users to make their voices heard on this issue.

“We want to let you understand more and read up on what this means - and make your voice heard about this! This is a major threat against our civil rights and we must act. We must act now!” they write on the Pirate Bay blog, pointing their users to a website where they can take action.

Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Pirate Party is with the Pirate Bay on this issue, as he told The Local: “Democracy is reliant on the transparency of power, not the transparency of citizens. All places where the opposite has been the case - where it has been impossible to examine the powers that be, while citizens lack any right to a private life - have been really nasty places to live.”

Let’s hope members of Parliament come to their senses, and make the right decision next week. To be continued.

This is an article from: TorrentFreak

The Pirate Bay Takes Stand Against Wiretapping Law