Piraattipuolue (Pirate Party of Finland) is a registered political party devoted to protecting privacy and freedom of speech as well as upgrading the copyright laws to meet the reality of the 21st century.

Copyright legislation must not restrict non-commercial use of creative works. Pharmaceutical and software patents should be abolished as harmful to society and the entire patent system should be reconsidered. Neither copyrights nor external threats ought to be used as an excuse to excessive curtailment of fundamental rights such as privacy. States and the European Union should act more transparently and more democratically.

Prevalent political trends are counterproductive. More strict copyright laws are introduced that are threat to privacy, try to make the current absurd copyright terms even longer and are breaching consumer protection by encouraging DRM. Patents create more jobs only to law firms. Those frightened of the free speech in the Internet demand service providers and admins to take responsibility of their customers' opinions. States collect more and more information of their citizens while often operating behind closed doors themselves.

Non-commercial filesharing and other normal use of cultural works cannot be restricted without tampering with people's privacy. Such development towards a surveillance society must be stopped in Finland and in Europe.

Our political agenda in a nutshell:

1. Complete decriminalization of all non-commercial use of creative works
2. Shortening the copyright protection to 5–10 years
3. Abolition of software and pharmaceutical patents
4. Protection of individual rights, especially privacy and the freedom of speech
5. Guaranteeing consumer protection in digital trade (as opposed to such schemes as the DRM)

Electoral participation:
Piraattipuolue is a registered party, eglible to set up candidates in parliamentary, municipal and EU parliament elections. We have not participated in any elections yet but aim to participate in the Finnish parliamentary election of 2011.

Openness:
Piraattipuolue operates openly both in administrative and financial matters. Board meetings are held publicly in the IRC real-time messaging system and their minutes are published on the Internet. Details of the party's finances are published through the party's web site. Piraattipuolue also uses a public wiki for internal planning.

Key people:
Pasi Palmulehto, Chairman, 28
Harri Kivistö, Vice Chairman, 28
Ahto Apajalahti, Party Secretary, 21

Contact information

If you want to contact us in English, please use the following contact information:

Ahto Apajalahti, Party Secretary
E-mail: ahto.apajalahti - at - piraattipuolue.fi

Some important milestones

- 2008-05-24 Founding assembly was held in Tampere.
- 2008-09-12 Piraattipuolue started collecting signatures in order to gain the "registered party" status.
- 2008-12-31 The year ended with a demonstration against the Swedish FRA-law in Helsinki.
- 2009-01-30 Piraattipuolue hosted the Pirate Parties' fourth international conference from January 30th to February 1st 2009 in Helsinki.
- 2009-02-06 A large demonstration against a corporate snooping law dubbed "Lex Nokia" was held in Helsinki - the big media announced Piraattipuolue as the main organizer.
- 2009-02-26 A Piraattipuolue delegation met with the chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the Finnish Parliament to discuss Lex Nokia.
- 2009-03-25 A Piraattipuolue delegation met with senior officials from the Finnish Ministry of Education to discuss an anti-piracy white paper.
- 2009-04-20 After the decision in the Pirate Bay case was published, the membership count of Piraattipuolue reached 1,000.
- 2009-06-01 Piraattipuolue presented 5,000 signatures to the Ministry of Justice, followed by unprecedented publicity. After checking the authenticity of the signatures, the Ministry will grant Piraattipuolue the "registered party" status.
- 2009-06-08 Membership count reached 2,000.
- 2009-08-19 Piraattipuolue registered as an official party.

Recent news about Piraattipuolue

- 2009-04-21: Yle - Pirate Party Gains Members in Verdict Aftermath
- 2009-05-07: The Finnish Institute of International Affairs - Pirates in Brussels 
- 2009-06-01: Piraattiliitto - Pirate Party of Finland applies for registered party status today
- 2009-06-01: Yle - Finnish Pirates Enter Political Arena
- 2009-06-02: Helsingin Sanomat - Finnish Pirate Party files for party registration
- 2009-06-07: Helsingin Sanomat - Captain of a pirate ship
- 2009-08-19: AFP - Pirate Party swashbuckles into Finnish politics
- 2009-08-19: Helsingin Sanomat - Pirate Party gets official political party status
- 2009-08-19: NewsRoom Finland / STT - Pirate Party of Finland enters party register
- 2009-08-19: YLE - Finland’s Pirate Party Enters Official Party Register