German Police Seize Pirate Party's Servers

Posted 05/20/2011 at 2:42pm | by Ryan Whitwam

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Did you know the Pirate Party is the sixth largest in Germany? Neither did we, but the German authorities certainly know who they are, and where they keep their servers. In the early morning today, German police confiscated servers belonging to the Pirate Party. The timing couldn't be worse. The group is slated to participate in elections in Bremen, Germany this Sunday.

According to the police, the investigation is not directed at the party in particular. Rather, it stems from a service hosted by the Pirate Party. Piratepad is a collaborative document writing service, and it is suspected that some individuals used it to plan a DDoS attack on a French company. The Pirate Prty has promised full cooperation with the police, but has some harsh words as well. 

"The disconnection of all servers is a massive intrusion into the communications infrastructure of the sixth largest party in Germany," the party said in a statement. It's not clear if the arrant was proper considering the circumstances. The Pirate Party has been left with few computer resources in the run up to the elections. Do you think the police were more heavy handed because of the reputation the Pirate Party has?