File Sharing Becomes an Officially Recognized Religion

Image Source: Det Missionerande Kopimistsamfundet.

Radio Free Penzance just noted that in Sweden, file sharing was officially recognized as the new Missionary Church of Kopimism just before Christmas; in the new faith, information is holy and copying and sharing torrents are considered sacraments because these acts multiply the spiritual value of the data.  Control+C and Control+V are considered sacred symbols.  If you go to the new faith's main Website, here, you will notice that Kopimism has branches sprouting up all over the world.  The religion has been growing since 2010.  From RFP:

For many people, file sharing is a way of life. At any given time, they will be seeding handfuls of torrents, downloading several more, and searching The Pirate Bay for something new. The practice provides a cathartic experience that you could even say gives meaning to their lives. So why not take the next step and turn it into a religion? That’s exactly what one man tried to do. The crazy part? He succeeded.

Yes, file sharing has been officially recognized as a religion by the Swedish government. The Church of Kopimism is the fruit of philosophy student Isak Gerson’s efforts. After two unsuccessful attempts to convince authorities to recognize the religion (its methods of praying or meditiaton were deemed too informal), Kopimism was finally granted religious status.

It was only a matter of time before we started worshipping zeroes and ones.  This is also an interesting merger of the old institutional establishment and new technological concerns.  Could, for example, Kopimists eventually claim protection against religious persecution and discrimination under EU law when the authorities tracked them down over copyright infringements?  There are other spiritual, philosophical and political dimensions popping up around intellectual property rights.  Sweden, home to the people who run The Pirate Bay, already has a political party founded around the idea of file sharing, called the Pirate Party (est. 2006).  The party's official Website is here.  For other reports on Kopimism, go here, here, here, here, here, here and here.  Gerson is on Twitter here.