The party in itself does not care for these matters, and they don't have to. The Pirate Party of Denmark for example, clearly state that the left-right scale means nothing to them, and that their only goal is to support one of the major parties during an election, if they in turn get their concerns addressed regarding copyright and net-neutrality.
I don't think they even considered running for government themselves, or in a 2-party system like the US. Their role is as a support-party, offering their votes and mandates, to whomever will address their political goals in return. In other words, they don't care for these matters, there are other parties to deal with those.
Well, one of their political principles includes government funded R&D to encourage further innovation after abolishing the patent system.- The fact these people actually defend the elimination of patents and think that the only consequence is the government getting less money, goes to show their ignorance
They wish to change a part of society, and so they form a party. The only thing that governs whether or not this is warranted, is how much support they can gather. And since they have grown to be the third largest party (by number of votes) in Sweden, i would say the exsistence of the party itself is _very_ warranted. There is obviously a political interest in Sweden for their goals, so they establish a party and start to grow, this is called democracy, not ignorance Mario.(that and the fact they actually think their cause warrants the formation of a political party, of course).
Call me a socialist or whatever, but my take on this is to nationalize these affairs. Make the state pay, it works. Look at NASA, a prime example of a nationalized organisation making huge leaps forward in the name of science. Patents on the other hand support the private monopolies that will make progress come to a halt.Scientific development to the level we have been experiencing has only been possible exactly because of the patenting system which serves also to protect the huge investments made during investigation. The patenting system has helped secure investors, pay the salaries of sometimes hundreds of people involved, pay for materials and equipments, and has provided an important boost to the economy by guaranteeing viable scenarios for companies formation, exploitation and competition.
And what is the alternative then? As long as the internet exists, as long as we can exchange 1's and 0's over long distances, piracy will flourish. Either we update the copyright laws so they can coexist with modern technology, or we could try to choke the internet with a totalitarian system of censorship and control? It is an ultimatum really, and there is only one viable choice. So think of the Pirate Party supporters however you want, i think they are right.Similarly their views of copyright are a joke. A bunch of white middle class PirateBay junkies with very little worries in life besides the size of their hard drives, thinking that anything that gets in the way of their daily fix should be fought for their right to be free to do as they like. Since daddy and mummy provide at home, including buying their new i7 and paying for their Gigabit access, they have no feel for what really drives the engine that powers all they ever had and will have. Teens, immature young adults enjoying the benefits of a steady economy and anarchists all coming together. A bunch of useless pieces of crap wasting air and space.
I don't see how a political party that covers the interests of a large part of the population could ever be a problem? Isn't that what democracy is all about, the voice of the people and so forth?- Where was I? Ah, yes... It's however no surprise these type of "citizen movements" end up gaining some popularity (even if only temporary and even if not translated into actual votes). Politics in Europe is becoming increasingly detached from the population. People just don't care anymore about those they can't speak with, reason with, or even understand most of the time. So anything goes. From political parties being formed because someone legalized abortion, to this nonsense we are debating here.