The battle has been going on for years, but the Ministry of Justice has its mind set

Jan 7, 2014 13:43 GMT  ·  By

In recent months, Russian lawmakers have taken several steps against online piracy, but they’re now getting a little bit ridiculous. The Ministry of Justice has ruled that since piracy is a crime under Russian law, the Pirate Party needs to change its name if it ever wants to be officially recognized.

The Pirate Party is a label adopted by parties from all over the world. They usually support civil rights, reform of the copyright and patent laws, information privacy, transparency and the free sharing of knowledge, to name just a few.

The original party was formed in Sweden in 2006. The Russian party was founded three years later, following the success of its Swedish counterpart.

The dispute about the name dates back to 2011, when the local Ministry of Justice expressed its opinion about the word “pirate,” which it believed was a description of a crime and not a political ideology.

A judge told the party to find a new name after siding with the Government. The party has been playing this back and forth game with the Russian authorities, asking for registration and getting rejected because of its name ever since, Torrent Freak reports.

“In our manifesto it is clearly written that we advocate the expansion of civil rights, freedom on the Internet, copyright reform and direct e-democracy. This is what we seek. That the Ministry of Justice continues to deny reality, claiming that we are sea pirates, is a violation of our legitimate right to association, to form a political party and to participate in the life of the country in a legal manner,” the party said in a statement.

The issue will likely go on for many months to come, with the Ministry addressing harsh comments to the youthful party and the Pirate Party trying to push its opinion.

“Perhaps the party is so innovative, so far out of touch with our reality, that it is quite difficult for them to perform primitive tasks,” the Ministry said.