 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Rick Falkvinge | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Falkvinge in 2012 | |
| Founding Leader of thePirate Party | |
| In office 1 January 2006 – 1 January 2011 | |
| Monarch | Carl XVI Gustaf |
| Prime Minister | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
| Succeeded by | Anna Troberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dick Greger Augustsson (1972-01-21)21 January 1972 (age 53) |
| Political party | Pirate Party |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | falkvinge.net |
Rick Falkvinge (bornDick Greger Augustsson, 21 January 1972) is a Swedishpolitician and the founder of thePirate Party, which he led until 2011.[1]
Falkvinge grew up in Ruddalen,Gothenburg, and studiednatural sciences atGöteborgs Högre Samskola. During high school, he was active inModerat Skolungdom andModerata Ungdomsförbundet, the youth organisations of theModerate Party inSweden.[2][3]
He founded his first company,Infoteknik, in 1988 at the age of 16.[2] From 1994 to 1998, he worked as asoftware developer inGothenburg,Kalmar, andStrömsund.[4]
In 2004, he changed his name from Dick Augustsson to Richard "Rick" Falkvinge.[5]
In late 2005, Falkvinge began developing the idea of a political party focused on issues related toillegal file sharing,copyright infringement, andpatent infringement. At the time, the main organisation active in the copyright debate in Sweden was the nonpartisanPiratbyrån. On 16 December 2005, Falkvinge registered thedomain namepiratpartiet.se (ThePirate Party). The party’s website was launched on 1 January 2006 through a message onDirect Connect hub, marking the start of a campaign to register a new political party inSweden.[6]
According to the party, the website received over three million visits within its first two days. On 2 January 2006, the initiative was first reported byDagens Industri in the morning and later byAftonbladet the same evening.[6][7][8] The media attention led Falkvinge to take a bank loan, resign from his position at Cypak, and dedicate himself full-time to the leadership of the Pirate Party.[3]
The Pirate Bay is a Sweden-based online search index founded in 2003, known for facilitatingpeer-to-peer file sharing, including copyrighted material such as movies and video games.[9] Falkvinge has been a long-time backer of the project, emphasising his support in several statements.[10][11]
On 31 May 2006, Swedish police raided the site's hosting facilities as part of an investigation into copyright violations, leading to the laterPirate Bay trial. In response, protests were organised across Europe on 3 June, during which Falkvinge delivered his first widely translated speech titled "Nothing New Under the Sun".[12][13][14]
In the week following the raid, Falkvinge states he was "invited daily to telvision and radio to discuss the political issues of file sharing."[15][non-primary source needed] Following the publicity, the Pirate Party's membership increased from 2,200 to 6,600.[16]
In the2006 Swedish general election, the Pirate Party received 0.63% of the national vote.[17]
Falkvinge chaired the Pirate Party for 18 months while relying on donations and fundraising from supporters. He continued as leader through the 2009European Parliament election, when the party won its first seats.[18][19]
In the2009 European Parliament election[20] The Pirate Party received 7.13% of the vote, becoming the most popular party among voters under 30, with 25% support in that demographic.[21]
After the election, several media outlets speculated that the Pirate Party might gain seats in theSwedish Parliament. However, polls later placed support at only 3.9%, below the 4.0% threshold for entry, and the party did not win representation in the 2010 parliamentary elections.
During the launch of the party's 2010 election manifesto, Falkvinge stated that freedom of speech and freedom of the press should take precedence over the ban on possession of drawings that could be consideredchild sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The party proposed repealing the 1999 Child Pornography Act, which prohibits possession of audio and visual materials depictingchild pornography.[22]
His comments were made in connection with a court case involving amanga researcher and translator charged with possessing drawings depicting minors in sexual contexts. TheSwedish Union of Journalists expressed support for Falkvinge's position.[23] The proposal generated internal disagreement within the Pirate Party, leading Falkvinge to initially retract his remarks before restating them in 2012.[24][25]
On 1 January 2011, five years after founding the Pirate Party, Falkvinge announced his resignation as party leader. Deputy leaderAnna Troberg succeeded him immediately.[26] The announcement was made via a live broadcast.[27]
In February 2016, Falkvinge became Head of Privacy forPrivate Internet Access, a US–basedvirtual private network (VPN) service.[28]
Falkvinge previously lived inSollentuna, a suburb north ofStockholm,[29] and later relocated toBerlin.[30]
In 2009,Fokus magazine listed Falkvinge among the 100 most influential people in Sweden.[31] He received theGuldmusen award as IT Person of the Year in 2010.[32]
In 2011,Foreign Policy magazine included him among itsTop 100 Global Thinkers.[33] In 2012,Time Magazine named him one of the world's most influential people,[34] and in 2013,The Guardian listed him among theTop 20 Internet Freedom Fighters Worldwide.[35]
|  | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
