The Swedish government approved before Christmas at the third attempt registration of a new church whose dogma is free sharing of data files by copying. The Church of Kopimism (Missionerande Kopimistsamfundet) declares that its aim is not to promote illegal file sharing but "open distribution of knowledge to all". Sacred symbols of the church are keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C and CTRL+V (copy and paste), BBC reported.
The organization was founded in 2010 by nineteen-year-old student of philosophy Gershon Isak with the hope that the church status will protect its members from prosecutions for copyright infringement. "For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains, and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore, copying is central for the organisation and its members," writes Isak at the website of the church.
Paradoxically, the church was recognized at the time when the Swedish government strive for constituting zero tolerance to internet piracy. Experts, however, do not think that the religious status of file-sharing could have a significant impact on either domestic or global fight against piracy.
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