5 January 2012
Last updated at 08:49 ET

Sweden recognizes new file-sharing religion Kopimism

A "church" whose central tenet is the right to file-share has been formally recognized 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 organization shortly before Christmas, the group said.

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

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 organization and its members," he said in a statement.

"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," he added.

The church's website http://kopimistsamfundet.se/ 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 organization, 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 recognized
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"In some ways these guys are looking outdated.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.