The Pirate Party scored a huge victory in Germany, winning 9 percent of the votes cast in the Berlin state election.

The victory pushes the young party above the 5 percent threshold needed to gain seats in the parliament; with 9 percent of the votes, the Pirate Party will get 15 seats.

A number of times I've heard, 'Your party is not relevant because it does not have members [in the] parliament,' the German Pirate Party Chairman told TorrentFreak.

This historic victory, therefore, puts the party on the map.

The Pirate Parties is an international movement that started in Sweden in 2006. Since then, it has spread to other countries, mostly in Europe.

Germany, though, has more elected officials than all other countries combined at 50, according to TorrentFreak.

The Pirate Party's platform is personal freedom, with an emphasis on the online aspect of it.

Below are what the Party supports, according to several European media outlets:

- Direct democracy, transparency and online data protection (Spiegel Online)

- Unconditional basic income (Spiegel Online)

- Legalization of soft drugs (Spiegel Online)

- Free rides on the underground (The Register)

- Private copies of material protected by copyright (Publico)

- Ensuring privacy while using the Internet and other communication technologies (Publico)

- Greater freedom in online content sharing (Publico)

- Reform in patent and intellectual property laws (Publico)

Germany