Missionary Church of Kopimism



The Missionary Church of Kopimism (in Swedish Missionerande Kopimistsamfundet), founded by 19-year-old philosophy student Isak Gerson, is a congregation of file sharers who claim that copying information is a sacred virtue. The Church, based in Sweden, has been officially recognized by the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency ("kammarkollegiet") as a religious community, after three application attempts.

Although it has been reported that The Pirate Bay is now operating under the auspices of the Church, Gerson himself denied any connection whatsoever between the two organizations.

Tenets
The followers of the religion are called Kopimists from copy me, the root of which is a phrase in the Bible :

This phrase has been translated by the Kopimists as: "Copy me, my brothers, just as I copy Christ himself". A "Kopimist" or "Kopimist intellectual" is a person who has the philosophical belief that all information should be freely distributed and unrestricted. This philosophy opposes the privatization of knowledge in all its forms, such as copyright, and encourages piracy of all types of media including music, movies, TV shows, and software.

According to the church, "In our belief, communication is sacred." No belief in gods or supernatural phenomena is mentioned on their web site. CTRL+C and CTRL+V, the computer shortcut keys for "Copy" and "Paste," are considered sacred symbols.

Kopimism made simple :
 * All knowledge to all
 * The search for knowledge is sacred
 * The circulation of knowledge is sacred
 * The act of copying is sacred.

According to the Kopimist constitution :
 * Copying of information is ethically right.
 * Dissemination of information is ethically right.
 * Copymixing is a sacred kind of copying, moreso than the perfect, digital copying, because it expands and enhances the existing wealth of information
 * Copying or remixing information communicated by another person is seen as an act of respect and a strong expression of acceptance and Kopimistic faith.
 * The Internet is holy.
 * Code is law.

On January 5, 2012, Kopimism was accepted by Sweden as a legitimate religion. The religion's association with illegal file sharing has been said not to be a sign that illegal file-sharing will be excused from Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to the matter.

Sharing of information in other religions

 * Gift of Knowledge by the Holy Spirit apparently isn't suggesting copying nor sharing information..
 * In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:2 is saying that having all the knowledge in the world is useless, without the desire for charity.
 * In the Bible, Philippians 1:9 is saying that both of having enough knowledge and understanding it were required for Phillipian Christians.
 * In the Bible, obstruction of the flow of knowledge is suggested to be the destruction of mankind:

"व्ययतो वॄद्धिम् आयाति क्षयम् आयाति संचयात्"
 * Vidya Daan(विद्या दान) translated as Knowledge Charity, a concept in Daan, is a tenet of all Dharmic Religions that also values the sharing of Knowledge.
 * Gyan yoga/Jnana yoga(ज्ञान योग) translated as Wisdom Exercise or Knowledge Path, is the sacred search for True Knowledge, in all Dharmic Religions.
 * In Hinduism, Right Knowledge is a form of God, and anything Knowledge is written or recorded on is considered sacred, to be protected from obscurity:
 * Translation: Oh Goddess Saraswati, your treasure of knowledge (Vidya) is indeed very amazing! If used(shared) it grows and if unused(obscured) it shrinks!
 * In Islam, the prophet Muhammad said: "Wisdom is the lost property of the faithful; wherever he finds it he has the right to take it"
 * Prophet Mohammed also said: "Whoever is asked about a knowledge that he knows about and then hides it and keeps it away, he will be bridled on the day of judgement with a bridle of fire."