Avast ... and amen. A Swedish group that favors digital piracy says it has received government approval to become an official church.
The Church of Kopimism, "which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols, hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing," notes TorrentFreak. ("Kopimi" means "copyme.")
The group has been trying for more than a year to get the church "registered" by the Kammarkollegiet, which describes itself as "the oldest public authority" in Sweden.
The new church says on its website that:
... 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.
Being recognized by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of kopimi. Hopefully, this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution, says Isak Gerson, spiritual leader of the Church of Kopimism
To join "requires no formal membership," the group says. "You just have to feel a calling to worship what is the holiest of the holiest, information and copy. To do this, we organize kopyactings — religious services — where the kopimists share information with each other through copying and remix."
When this group goes to church, rest assured they will file (share) in an orderly fashion.
Related stories:
- Will Google, Facebook, others 'nuke' Internet over SOPA?
- Gaming world conflicted on piracy act support
- Software alliance yanks support for piracy bill
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