Kerstin Sjoden reports.

Activist Christian Engström looks more like a engineer than a buccaneer. But in June he'll be one of 20 candidates running for seats in the European Parliament under the skull-and-crossbones flag of the Swedish Pirate Party.

"If politicians want to prevent ordinary citizens from sharing files, they will constantly have to expand their ability to monitor," Engström said in a telephone interview. "It's necessary to reform the copyright legislation to ensure that citizens' right to privacy is respected."

Founded by copyright activists in early 2006, the Pirate Party believes people should be able to freely copy books or music for private use. The party is dedicated to radical reform of copyright law, abolition of the patent system and guaranteed online privacy rights. But despite an agenda near and dear to much of Sweden's youth, the party put in a dismal showing in the Swedish national election in 2006, winning only 0.63 percent of the votes.

But times have changed, says Engström. There's growing outrage in Sweden over draconian new anti-privacy legislation, and the recent trial of The Pirate Bay in Stockholm earned saturation-level media coverage. The party's rank-and-file has swelled over the last year, and with 12 ,000 members, the Pirate Party is now larger than the small but well-established Swedish Left Party and the Swedish Green Party. The party's youth section, "Young Pirates," is currently the second biggest political youth group in Sweden.

Engström, a 48-year-old father living in Nacka, a wealthy suburb of Stockholm, believes that support gives him and his fellow candidates a real shot at the European Parliament. Elections in EU's 27 member states will be held between June 4 and June 7, 2009. The European Parliament is the only directly elected body of the European Union and plays an active role in drafting legislation from its headquarters in Brussels.

"Most legislation about information policy comes from Brussels," says Engström."That's where decisions are made and that's why we want to be there."

Engström has worked as an unpaid, full-time activist for five years. He joined the Pirate Party in 2006, after lobbying against software patents in Brussels for two years. Before becoming an activist, he worked as a programmer and vice president of a small company.

"I've saved enough to be able to work without getting paid, and these issues are of such importance to me," says Engström. "But I can't work like this forever. Eventually, some money would be nice."

The timing of the EU election is almost perfect for the party. Last summer, a controversial law that allows the state to wiretap internet traffic that crosses Sweden's borders was passed by the Swedish parliament, provoking widespread and intense opposition, and putting one of the Pirate Party's core issues in the map.

Shortly afterward, there was an outcry about the new "Ipred-law", which gives copyright holders the right to seek a court order identifying people linked to illegal downloading. Based on the European

Union's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, the measure will come into force on April 1.

In the middle of it all The Pirate Bay trial, which ended March

3, had everyone voicing an opinion. The judge is expected to issue a verdict on April 17, an event likely to raise much media interest again.

To succeed in June's election, The Pirate Party must keep the online privacy discussion alive and convince voters of a conflict between Sweden's established parties and the public interest.

Ulf Bjereld, professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, thinks that the Pirate Party's chances to reach the EU Parliament are pretty small. "They shouldn't be disregarded though," he says.

"Small parties can pop up during EU elections, and the Pirate

Party's campaign issues have been rousing interest all year long," says

Bjereld. "But they need to reach outside their own group to mobilize more voters."

The pirates will still need an estimated 100,000 votes to get a member elected. In the Swedish national election in 2006, the Pirate

Party won only 35,000 votes.

According to Engström, this summer's election is make or break for Sweden's pirates, because of the party's shaky financial situation. The

Pirate Party has no paid employees – operating costs are covered by member donations. If the party makes it to the EU parliament, it will be able to have a paid employee, and hire two or three assistants.

"If we fail to reach the European parliament, the future of the Pirate

Party looks quite dark," he says. "All our planning is based on us going to Brussels."

Photo courtesy Rickard Olsson.