Stockholm, Jan 8 (ANI): A 'church' whose central tenet is the right to file-share has been officially recognised as a religious group by the Swedish government.
The 'spiritual leader' of the Church of Kopimism, which claims that 'kopyacting,' meaning sharing information through copying, is akin to a religious service, said recognition was a 'large step'.
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.
A 19-year-old philosophy student Isak Gerson founded it. He hopes that file-sharing will now be given religious protection, The BBC reports.
"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 organisation and its members," he said in a statement.
"Being recognised 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.
According to the report, the Swedish government agency Kammarkollegiet finally registered the Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation shortly before Christmas.
However, despite the new-found interest in the organisation, experts said religious status for file-sharing would have little effect on the global crackdown on piracy. (ANI)
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