Dear World!

I started one of Sweden's first Internet Service Providers. I was educated at the Stockholm School of Economics. I was a Fulbright Fellow in the United States of America. I am a writer, blogger, social critic and internet theorist. I have discussed intellectual property, file-sharing, freedom of communication and the future of culture in a digital world at length. Because of my analysis and my writings I have earned the trust of the Piracy Movement of Sweden and have now been asked to further the following announcement, which they claimed was inspired by a column I wrote for a magazine. I ventured that Swedish youth had started to feel pride over the defiance of The Pirate Bay and that the guys behind it are the rock star rebels of our time.

/Oscar Swartz

Birth of the Nation of Pirate Pride

"The Kingdom of Sweden has been delivered a notice from powerful external forces, asking us to submit to reactionary demands. Those demands can and should be read in this PDF (531 KB), a shameful letter delivered by postal mail to our Minister of Infrastructure and officially archived on November 13, 2007.

The headline of the letter reeks of desperation as it attacks one of the national monuments of Sweden:

"PIRATE BAY SHOULD HAVE NO PLACE IN SWEDEN OR THE EUROPEAN UNION"

The petitioners demand:

"It is absolutely essential that the individuals and companies responsible for Pirate Bay be called to account by the Swedish authorities without any delay. We urge you to do everything possible to make this happen."

Our answer is this:

"It is absolutely essential that the individuals and companies responsible for Pirate Bay be protected by the Swedish authorities and people without any restrictions. We urge them to do everything possible to counteract ."

The petitioners demand:

"We believe that, given the Pirate Bay's cult popularity, this is a key opportunity for one country to educate the global internet community about the need for respect of copyright and the importance of intellectual property."

Our answer is this:

"We believe that, given the Pirate Bay's cult popularity, this is a key opportunity for one country to educate the global internet community about the need for a change in copyright legislation and the importance of undermining traditional theories of intellectual property".

We hereby proudly announce:

We, the people of the Kingdom of Sweden, in order to form a more perfect future, establish justice, insure international understanding, provide for the common good of humankind, promote the global reach of all culture, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Principle for the Internet:

The Pirate Bay Shall Stay Alive, protected by the full powers of the people of Sweden and the Nation of Pirate Pride, born in the Kingdom of Sweden.

Our comments are these:

Sweden led the sexual revolution in the 1960s. We have decided to lead the way towards Internet Freedom and Enlightenment in the Digital era. Swedish movie I am Curious (Yellow), by national hero Vilgot Sjöman, made the U.S. Supreme Court overturn obscenity laws in 1970. The Pirate Bay is our tool for change this time. We urge all individual creators to join us.

Our former Minister of Justice took commands from foreign powers and ordered a raid on The Pirate Bay on May 31, 2006. A few days later the site was up and running and is now stronger than ever. We, the people of the Kingdom of Sweden, have formed alliances with brothers all over the world, forming the Nation of Pirate Pride. The Pirate Bay will stay on the Net. If The Pirate Bay is ever physically threatened in Sweden again, we will form a human wall around any building that is invaded by its enemies. Our SMS and mail and chat chains and politicians will swiftly convene thousands of people that are prepared to follow Gandhi's example of Satyagraha, nonviolent resistance.

Please note that King Carl XVI Gustaf has received an award from The Pirate Bay for leading this country in the North where the future is born, where the Pirate Bureau is a mass movement and were the Pirate Parties of the world were born."