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Filesharing Now an Official Religion In Sweden
bs0d3 writes "Kopimism is now an official religion in Sweden. Kopimi beliefs originated with the Swedish group called Piratbyran who believed that everything should be shared freely online without restrictions from copyright. Leader Isak Gerson, has recently had some disagreements with the Swedish Pirate Party where many people disagree with all religions." Here's the official website for the "Missionary Church of Kopimism."
Since their webpage is slashdotted, here is the official press release from the Church of Kopimism:
The Church of Kopimism is recognized by the state of Sweden
Just before Christmas, the Swedish governmental agency Kammarkollegiet registered the Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation. This means that Sweden is the first country to recognize kopimism as a religion.
The Church of Kopimism have tried to become registered as a religious organisation by Kammarkollegiet for more than a year.
- Since Kammarkollegiet has been strict with formalities, we had to apply three times, a happy Gustav Nipe - board chairman for the organisation - says. He continues, I think it might have something to do with the governmental organisations abiding by a very copyright friendly attitude, with a twisted view on copying.
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.
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.
The Church of Kopimism is a religious organisation with roots from 2010. The organisation formalizes a community that's been well spread for a long time already. The community of kopimi requires no formal membership. 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 eachother through copying and remix.
Copy and seed.
I didn't realise Christianity had its own state???
It does, it's called State of the City of the Vatican (Stato della Città del Vaticano). The Pope exercises principal legislative, executive, and judicial power over it.
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That's because I was slightly wrong. I was conflating two different but quite similar cases.
The eagle case was one Mr. Hardman (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/10th/994210.html). I remembered one crucial detail incorrectly though: He actually lost in court. The case I was confusing it with was one of those he cited as precident, Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Lukumi_Babalu_Aye_v._City_of_Hialeah). The religion in question there wasn't native american, but a decendant of an African religion requiring animal sacrifice. In that case, they won, and the ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional.
The MBA actually *does* have an exception for native american religions, but Hardman didn't qualify as he was not a legal member of one of the authorised tribes.
It can be so hard to keep all these cases straight when citeing from memory. I am not a lawyer though, I just debate this stuff a lot on the internet.
Having recently started living in Sweden, I familiarized myself with the Pirate Party a bit more closely. The claim that they want to abolish copyright is simply false - they are proposing a reform, although admittedly one that curbs copyright very significantly. They do want to get rid of patents entirely, believing they hinder innovation. What they want to do with copyrights is to reduce them to 5 years, after which works get released into the public domain. 5 years is a short period, but it differs very significantly from the idea of abolishing copyright.