WORLD
Sweden recognizes information-sharing as religion
Baku, January 14 (AZERTAC). Three attempts in the past year have paid off for a newly recognized religion in Sweden that views information as holy and copying as a sacrament. Its leaders have previous ties to the Pirate Party Sweden.
A file-sharing group known as the Church of Kopimism has received official recognition from Sweden as a spiritual organization, it announced on Thursday.
In late December 2011, the Kammarkollegiet, or the Financial and Administrative Services, the public Swedish organization that deals with recognizing businesses and other tax entities, officially recognized the group. In Sweden, this government institution can allow recognized groups - which includes mainstream religions, as well as Norse pagans - to file for applications for state funding and to marry couples.
According to the Gagens Nyheter, Bertil Kallner of Sweden`s Financial and Administrative Services said that a religious community could "basically be anything."
"What`s important is that it is a community for religious activities," he added.
Sweden has been the home of a number of pro-file-sharing groups, including the controversial website, The Pirate Bay, and later, the Pirate Party, which now has two seats in the European Parliament. Pirate Parties in many other countries have sprung up, particularly in Europe. In late 2011, several members of the Pirate Party Germany surprisingly won seats in the Berlin state parliament.
"For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament," the group said in an English-language statement posted on its website.
"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."
The Church of Kopimism`s chairman, Gustav Nipe, previously also helped found the Pirate Internet service provider last year, which was designed to challenge European privacy and data retention law. Isak Gerson, the group`s 20-year-old spiritual leader, also has been involved in the Pirate Party`s youth organization.
Despite the new formal recognition, the group`s website says it requires "no formal membership" to become a "kopimist."
"You just have to feel a calling to worship what is the holiest of the holiest, information and copy," the organization wrote on its website. "To do this, we organize kopyactings - religious services - where the kopimists share information with each other through copying and remix."