Press release: anti-pirates hug sheep in Norway
Yesterday, a protest action by the Norwegian Music Industry’s Anti-pirate Campaign (Musikkbransjens antipiratkampanje) made headlines. To protest the Venstre party’s decision to adopt a pro-file sharing party programme, the anti-pirates went out and assaulted a sheep they thought belonged to a member of parliament for Venstre. A video of the event was shown yesterday on the news on Norwegian TV2. The anti-pirates have also threatened to file charges against Venstre for supporting legalization of file sharing in their party programme.
“We accept part of the blame, but we never thought it would come to this,” said Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Pirate Party. “Venstre’s position on file sharing is a direct copy of the Pirate Party’s programme. When they accepted it, we were very happy and welcomed them onto the pirate ship. We never suspected that it might cause the anti-pirates to start molesting innocent sheep.”
The action was supported by Tono, the Norwegian composers’ copyright organization, and the musicians’ trade unions Norsk Artistforbund and Musikernes Fellesorganisasjon MFO.
“We are considering pressing charges against Unge Venstre [Venstre’s youth organization], which directly advocates legalization of piracy on a blog”, Arnfinn Bjerkestrand of Musikernes Fellesorganisasjon told Norwegian media.
“The only reason he wants to file charges against us is that he doesn’t agree with our views”, responds Jonas S. Eilertsen of Ung Venstre. “Does he not have any objective arguments against file sharing? In other words, he wants to abolish freedom of speech for people who favour free file sharing. It’s shocking. Using the police against opinions you disagree with has no place in a liberal democracy.”
The Pirate Party’s Rick Falkvinge agrees.
“This is indicative of the complete intellectual collapse of the recording industry”, says Falkvinge. “We pirates welcome a serious debate about how copyright law should be adapted to fit into the emerging information society. But how do you talk to people who prefer hugging sheep and prosecuting their opponents for their political opinions?”
Press release: anti-pirates hug sheep in Norway
Yesterday, a protest action by the Norwegian Music Industry’s Anti-pirate Campaign (Musikkbransjens antipiratkampanje) made headlines. To protest the Venstre party’s decision to adopt a pro-file sharing party programme, the anti-pirates went out and assaulted a sheep they thought belonged to a member of parliament for Venstre. A video of the event was shown yesterday on the news on Norwegian TV2. The anti-pirates have also threatened to file charges against Venstre for supporting legalization of file sharing in their party programme.
“We accept part of the blame, but we never thought it would come to this,” said Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Pirate Party. “Venstre’s position on file sharing is a direct copy of the Pirate Party’s programme. When they accepted it, we were very happy and welcomed them onto the pirate ship. We never suspected that it might cause the anti-pirates to start molesting innocent sheep.”
The action was supported by Tono, the Norwegian composers’ copyright organization, and the musicians’ trade unions Norsk Artistforbund and Musikernes Fellesorganisasjon MFO.
“We are considering pressing charges against Unge Venstre [Venstre’s youth organization], which directly advocates legalization of piracy on a blog”, Arnfinn Bjerkestrand of Musikernes Fellesorganisasjon told Norwegian media.
“The only reason he wants to file charges against us is that he doesn’t agree with our views”, responds Jonas S. Eilertsen of Ung Venstre. “Does he not have any objective arguments against file sharing? In other words, he wants to abolish freedom of speech for people who favour free file sharing. It’s shocking. Using the police against opinions you disagree with has no place in a liberal democracy.”
The Pirate Party’s Rick Falkvinge agrees.
“This is indicative of the complete intellectual collapse of the recording industry”, says Falkvinge. “We pirates welcome a serious debate about how copyright law should be adapted to fit into the emerging information society. But how do you talk to people who prefer hugging sheep and prosecuting their opponents for their political opinions?”