The Pirate Party of Catalonia is organizing the equivalent of a class-action lawsuit against the FBI in a Spanish court, claiming damages to legitimate users of the file-sharing site Megaupload. And the group is trying to enlist the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to do the same, sending it the contact information of US residents who join the campaign.

"This initiative is a starting point for legitimate Internet users to help defend themselves from the legal abuses promoted by those wishing to aggressively lock away cultural materials for their own financial gain," the group said through its website.

Stating that the FBI has "impeded the access to millions of archives of both private individuals and organizations, potentially causing huge personal, economic and image damages," the Pirate Party also suggests that private data might have been misappropriated by the FBI and other authorities in the course of the investigation, violating privacy rights.

"Regardless of ideology," the group states, "or opinions on the legality or morality of those running Megaupload, actions such as the closure of this service cause huge damage to lawful users of the sites and are unacceptable and disproportionate violations of their rights."

The Pirate Party of Catalonia claims that the FBI may have violated Articles 197 and 198 of the Spanish Penal Code, both of which fall under Spain's Title X, which covers privacy. Article 197 deals with exposing personal data; Article 198 addresses such disclosures by public officials.

The group says it is collaborating with Pirate Parties International, and national Pirate Parties in other countries, to bring the suit, and it is setting up a page to allow individuals affected by the FBI takedown to register as part of the complaint.

Update: Rebecca Jeshke, EFF's Media Relations Director, told Ars Technica that the EFF does want to hear from people who've been affected by the Megaupload shutdown. The Pirate Party has contacted the EFF, and the information sharing is part of EFF's efforts to learn more about how the Megaupload shutdown has affected legitmate users.