You’ve got to love those crazy Scandinavians. Not content with introducing the world to some of the most bizarre laws on the planet (such as making escaping from prison legal with the penalty if you’re caught that you must serve out the remainder of your term), they’ve now turned their socially progressive attention to the world of religion.
Again proving they’re the world leaders in keeping a straight face a ‘church’ whose central philosophy is the right to share files has been formally recognised by the Swedish government. According to the BBC, the church’s sacred symbols include CTRL+C and CTRL+V and they’re now focusing their attention on getting file-sharing religious protection.
“For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament,” said Gustav Nipe, chairman of the organisation. “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 recognised by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of Kopimi,” he continued. “Hopefully this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution,” he added.
But not everyone agrees that the official recognition will mean much for file-sharing in the country. Music analyst Mark Mulligan think not only is the Swedish move crazy but it is also outdated. “It is quite divorced from reality and is reflective of Swedish social norms rather than the Swedish legislative system,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean that illegal file-sharing will become legal,” he continued. “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 In some ways these guys are looking outdated.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.”
