[tlug] BBC on Kopimism

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(Copied from BBC World News in its entirety after privately requesting 
and receiving permission for a fair use retransmission.)

5 January 2012 	
Last updated at 13:49 GMT

*Sweden recognises new file-sharing religion Kopimism*

A "church" whose central tenet is the right to file-share has been 
formally recognised by the Swedish government.

The Church of Kopimism claims that "kopyacting" - sharing information 
through copying - is akin to a religious service.

The "spiritual leader" of the church said recognition was a "large step".

But others were less enthusiastic and said the church would do little to 
halt the global crackdown on piracy.
Holy information

The Swedish government agency Kammarkollegiet finally registered the 
Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation shortly before Christmas, 
the group said.

"We had to apply three times," said Gustav Nipe, chairman of the 
organisation.

The church, which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V (shortcuts for copy and paste) 
as sacred symbols, does not directly promote illegal file sharing, 
focusing instead on the open distribution of knowledge to all.

It was founded by 19-year-old philosophy student and leader Isak Gerson. 
He hopes that file-sharing will now be given religious protection.

"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," he said in a statement.

"Being recognised 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," he added.

The church's website has been unavailable since it broke the news of its 
religious status. A message urged those interested in joining to "come 
back in a couple of days when the storm has settled".

Despite the new-found interest in the organisation, experts said 
religious status for file-sharing would have little effect on the global 
crackdown on piracy.

"It is quite divorced from reality and is reflective of Swedish social 
norms rather than the Swedish legislative system," said music analyst 
Mark Mulligan.

"It doesn't mean that illegal file-sharing will become legal, any more 
than if 'Jedi' was recognised as a religion everyone would be walking 
around with light sabres.

"In some ways these guys are looking outdated. File-sharing as a means 
to pirate content is becoming yesterday's technology," he added.

Piracy crackdown

The establishment of the church comes amid a backdrop of governmental 
zero-tolerance towards piracy.

The crackdown on piracy has moved focus away from individual pirates and 
more towards the ecosystem that supports piracy.

In the US, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) aims to stop online ad 
networks and payment processors from doing business with foreign 
websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.

It could also stop search engines from linking to the allegedly 
infringing sites. Domain name registrars could be forced to take down 
the websites, and internet service providers forced to block access to 
the sites accused of infringing.

The government is pushing ahead with the controversial legislation 
despite continued opposition.