The first Pirate Party was founded in Sweden in 2006 by Rick Falkvinge initially named "Piratpartiet", and the movement has since expanded to over 60 countries.

They therefore advocate for copyright and patent laws reform, aiming to make them more flexible and fairer, foster innovation and balance creator' rights with public access to knowledge.

Specifically, they support shorter copyright terms and promote open access to scientific research, educational resources, and courses.

They recognize its inherent benefits: it provides freedom of use, modification and distribution, transparency to avoid unfair practices, global collaboration, innovation and cost reduction, and enhanced security through code verifiability.

Some Pirate parties also support universal basic income as a response to the economic challenges posed by advanced automation.

They think platform economy can be more equitable and more inclusive if it is based also on commons-based peer production and collaborative consumption, viewing technological innovations as part of the global digital commons—freely accessible to everyone.

Therefore, they argue that the internet should remain an open public space, free from restrictions, where people can access, create, and share content without fear of coercion.

In terms of governance, Pirate Parties support the implementation of open e-government to enhance transparency, reduce costs, and increase the efficiency of decision-making processes.

This decentralised and participatory governance, known as collaborative e-democracy, aims to distribute participation and decision-making among citizens through digital tools, allowing them to directly influence public policies (e-participation).

[5][6][7][8][9][10] Ultimately, protecting individual freedom is at the core of their political agenda, seen as a bulwark against the growing power of corporations and governments in controlling information and digital autonomy.

[13] The United States Pirate Party was founded on 6 June 2006 by University of Georgia graduate student Brent Allison.

[14] The Pirate Party of Austria (German: Piratenpartei Österreichs) was founded in July 2006 in the run-up to the 2006 Austrian legislative election by Florian Hufsky and Jürgen "Juxi" Leitner.

[36] In 2010, Swedish MEP Christian Engström called for supporters of amendments to the Data Retention Directive to withdraw their signatures, citing a misleading campaign.

Since October 2009, Pirate Parties International has had the status of a non-governmental organization (Feitelijke vereniging) based in Belgium.

The alliance is called "Europa Anders" and also includes some independents in their lists 3with Ecological Greens 4PPEE are campaigning for an independent candidate (Silver Meikar) who supports the pirate program Representatives of the Pirate Party movement that have been elected to a national or supranational legislature.