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 believe 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.

Gerson has denied any connection between the Church and filesharing site The Pirate Bay.

Tenets
The followers of the religion are called Kopimists from copy me. 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 monopolization 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.

First wedding
On April 28th, 2012, the Missionary Church of Kopimism held their first wedding. The wedding took place in Belgrade, Serbia, between a Romanian woman and an Italian man. The holy ceremony was conducted by a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask whose voice was distorted by a voice modulator.

The church said, "We are very happy today. Love is all about sharing. A married couple share everything with each other. Hopefully, they will copy and remix some DNA-cells and create a new human being. That is the spirit of Kopimism. Feel the love and share that information. Copy all of its holiness."

The missionary leader of the Church of Kopimism, Isak Gerson, attended as a witness during the wedding.

First Religious Orders
A discussion on reddit's /r/kopimism spurred the development of religious orders similar to the Catholic Church's Papal Orders of Chivalry. All members (including female members) of the orders may call themselves by their titles (Executable Jerry, M-peg Jenny, e.g.). Each order has its own ranking structure, and as of 2012, all orders are fairly lenient in terms of admission, except for the Maesters. These titles are not recognized in all nations except for Sweden, Norway and Germany, where they have minor limited recognition should they acknowledge their religion as Kopimism.

List of Orders

 * Maesters: An order of those who are known to be wise and active ; There are currently only 7 maesters worldwide. This is the only religious order that requires admission. It works closely with all other religious orders.
 * Pirates: An order of those who share files, and create such files.
 * Hackers: An order of those who are hackers by profession and skill.
 * op: A spiritual leader of the Missionary Church of Kopimism, which can only be appointed by another op. This order is not subject to the Maesters, and may practice freely without interference.
 * Ser: An order of honored individuals who have attracted the attention of the Maesters (mainly members of release groups, such as the recently convicted IMAGiNE who were granted full honours by the Maesters)
 * .exe: An order of those who have been noticed in the field of activism and action.
 * .mp3: An order of musicians, audiophiles and DJs.
 * .jpeg: An order of photographers, artists and those who partake in the arts.
 * .pdf: An order of theologians, whistle-blowers and spies who believe in open access to information.
 * .py: An order of programmers and developers.

Sharing of information in religions
Sharing has been widely advocated in many religion, through forms such as alms.