Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Americ

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YMix
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Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Americ

Post by YMix »

A Swedish religion whose dogma centers on the belief that people should be free to copy and distribute all information—regardless of any copyright or trademarks—has made its way to the United States.

Followers of so-called "Kopimism" believe copying, sharing, and improving on knowledge, music, and other types of information is only human—the Romans remixed Greek mythology, after all, they say. In January, Kopimism—a play on the words "copy me"—was formally recognized by a Swedish government agency, raising its profile worldwide.

"Culture is something that makes people feel much better and makes people appreciate their world in a different way. Knowledge is also something we should copy regardless of the law," says Isak Gerson, the 20-year-old founder of Kopimism. "It makes us better when we share knowledge and culture with each other."

More than 3,500 people "like" Kopimism on Facebook, and thousands more practice its sacred ritual of file sharing. According to its manifesto, private, closed-source software code and anti-piracy software are "comparable to slavery." Kopimist "Ops," or spiritual leaders, are encouraged to give counsel to people who want to pirate files, are banned from recording and should encrypt all virtual religious service meetings "because of society's vicious legislative and litigious persecution of Kopimists."

Official in-person meetings must happen in places free of anti-Kopimist monitoring and in spaces with the Kopimist symbol—a pyramid with the letter K inside. To be initiated new parishioners must share the Kopimist symbol and say the sacred words "copied and seeded."

The gospel of the church has begun to spread, with Kopimist branches in 18 countries.

An American branch of the religion was recently registered with Illinois and is in the process of gaining federal recognition, according to Christopher Carmean, a 25-year-old student at the University of Chicago and head of the U.S. branch.

"Data is what we are made of, data is what defines our life, and data is how we express ourselves," says Carmean. "Forms of copying, remixing, and sharing enhance the quality of life for all who have access to them. Attempts to hinder sharing are antithetical to our data-driven existence."

About 450 people have registered with his church, and about 30 of them are actively practicing the religion, whose symbols include Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V—the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste.

It's no surprise the religion was born in Sweden—it has some of the laxest copyright laws in the world. The Swedish Pirate Party has two seats in the European Parliament, and The Pirate Bay, a Swedish website that's one of the world's largest portals to illegal files, has avoided being shut down for years.

Gerson is happy to allow people who want to open their own branches of Kopimism to copy its symbols and religious documents.

"There's been a couple people that asked me [to start congregations], but I tell them they shouldn't ask. You don't need permission," he says. "It's a project, and I want projects to be copied, so I'm happy when people copy without asking."

Most Kopimists say they realized they were practicing the religion before they found it.

"There are many people who are like me, who always held the Kopimist ideals, but hadn't yet heard of the official church," says Lauren Pespisa, a web developer in Cambridge, Mass., who gave a speech about the religion in March to a group of anti-copyright activists called the Massachusetts Pirate Party. "I think some people are like me and have embraced it officially and publicly, but some people believe in it and don't really want to mix religion and politics."

That's a big criticism of the religion—lawsuits brought upon Kopimists is a form of religious persecution, according to Gerson. But Pespisa says that crying persecution in court probably "wouldn't hold up in reality."

In a blog post in late March, Carmean wrote that people should not "bring a legal argument to a religion fight."

"Expecting any religion to provide a logic-based mandate for every single action that one might take is absurd and offensive," he wrote. "It insults the basic moral fiber of Kopimists and all of humanity to outright demand a total moral code of conduct from anyone purporting to have a new perspective on issues of our time."

Although many Kopimists are practicing a "sacred" ritual whenever they download or share a movie, CD, or book, they also regularly meet in online chat rooms to discuss the religion. Many of them are also internet activists, working to make file sharing legal, regardless of copyright. Even if they're unsuccessful, Gerson is happy to help the information flow in any way he can.

"I think we need to change the laws, but I don't think we need to focus only on them. I think laws can, in many cases, be ignored," he says. "We want to encourage people to share regardless of what the laws say."
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Ibrahim
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Ibrahim »

Heh, cute. Calling it a religion doesn't actually provide legal protection against prosecution, but it is interesting how much the Internet age has discredited intellectual property laws in some quarters. Mind you there were few if any copyright protections in Shakespeare's day either, and it hasn't hurt the English curriculum very much.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

I agree.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Demon of Undoing »

"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Ibrahim »

Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

Ibrahim wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
Metallica are the ultimate hypocrites as they got famous outside of the RIAA system through a network of bootleg tape traders who sent tapes back and forth via ads in underground metal zines. They went platinum this way. So genuflect Metallica and the lawyer they rode in on. Being the best metal band ever doesn't justify their primadonna assholishness later.

_OGGtF_h0mw

Still a classic.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by YMix »

Being the best metal band ever doesn't justify their primadonna assholishness later.
Not after that Reloaded crap.

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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Azrael »

I suppose if a Christian were accused of piracy, he could say that he shared files as a ritual to commemorate Jesus's multiplying of loaves and fishes.

If the Last Supper was successfully used to allow Christians to consume alcoholic beverages during Prohibition, they should be able to get mileage out of the Loaves and Fishes.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Azrael »

Enki wrote:
Ibrahim wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
Metallica are the ultimate hypocrites as they got famous outside of the RIAA system through a network of bootleg tape traders who sent tapes back and forth via ads in underground metal zines. They went platinum this way. So genuflect Metallica and the lawyer they rode in on. Being the best metal band ever doesn't justify their primadonna assholishness later.
Best metal ban ever? How about Led Zeppelin? Have a listen to "Ramble On" and tell me if you still think that Metallica is the best.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Azrael »

Ibrahim wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
There should be a time limit on music rights and such (cultural intellectual property), say thirty years.

Technical and scientific intellectual property should expire sooner, and there should be some sort of limits on the use of intellectual property to limit innovation by competitors, eg: if Ford has the copyright to automatic transmission, they shouldn't be able to indefinitely keep their competitors from offering automatic transmission.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

And I guess Kopimism is against gay marriage because it does not replicate.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Azrael wrote:
Enki wrote:
Ibrahim wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
Metallica are the ultimate hypocrites as they got famous outside of the RIAA system through a network of bootleg tape traders who sent tapes back and forth via ads in underground metal zines. They went platinum this way. So genuflect Metallica and the lawyer they rode in on. Being the best metal band ever doesn't justify their primadonna assholishness later.
Best metal ban ever? How about Led Zeppelin? Have a listen to "Ramble On" and tell me if you still think that Metallica is the best.

Seconded. There are two playlists on my phone. Led Zep and everything else. So much more than just the best ( archetypal?) metal band. Even when at their most flawed, they were flawless.

I mean, come on.


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Sorry.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by noddy »

primus is equally represented on my neverending playlist... granted not as diverse as the zeps but sometimes i need alot of rifftastic catharsis.

metallica is way down the list for me, justice for all is about the only one that had more hits than misses for my tastes.. too schoolboy rushed in the earlier, too polished pop in the later.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

Azrael wrote:
Enki wrote:
Ibrahim wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ch. 8
Easy for him to say, he doesn't own the rights to Metallica's discography.
Metallica are the ultimate hypocrites as they got famous outside of the RIAA system through a network of bootleg tape traders who sent tapes back and forth via ads in underground metal zines. They went platinum this way. So genuflect Metallica and the lawyer they rode in on. Being the best metal band ever doesn't justify their primadonna assholishness later.
Best metal ban ever? How about Led Zeppelin? Have a listen to "Ramble On" and tell me if you still think that Metallica is the best.
I never really thought of Led Zeppelin as Metal.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

Demon of Undoing wrote:ded. There are two playlists on my phone. Led Zep and everything else. So much more than just the best ( archetypal?) metal band. Even when at their most flawed, they were flawless.

I mean, come on.


WbrjRKB586s

Sorry.
Greatest rock and roll recording ever...that happens to be a DELTA BLUES cover, and not Metal. ;)
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

noddy wrote:primus is equally represented on my neverending playlist... granted not as diverse as the zeps but sometimes i need alot of rifftastic catharsis.

metallica is way down the list for me, justice for all is about the only one that had more hits than misses for my tastes.. too schoolboy rushed in the earlier, too polished pop in the later.
Ride the Lightning is the best Metallica album IMO.

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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Enki wrote:
Demon of Undoing wrote:ded. There are two playlists on my phone. Led Zep and everything else. So much more than just the best ( archetypal?) metal band. Even when at their most flawed, they were flawless.

I mean, come on.


WbrjRKB586s

Sorry.
Greatest rock and roll recording ever...that happens to be a DELTA BLUES cover, and not Metal. ;)

Well, then there is no metal. All metal is blues with more anger. They made metal.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Mr. Perfect »

Azrael wrote: Best metal ban ever? How about Led Zeppelin? Have a listen to "Ramble On" and tell me if you still think that Metallica is the best.
Man that is one of the best songs of all time.

It's been almost 10 years to the day...

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Last edited by Mr. Perfect on Thu May 10, 2012 2:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Mr. Perfect »

Man I think this is as good as it ever got for rock music.

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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

Demon of Undoing wrote:Well, then there is no metal. All metal is blues with more anger. They made metal.
Stairway is a metal track, When the Levee Breaks is Blues.

But I'll give it to you, if Metallica is in the running against Led Zeppelin, then no, I ain't gonna take Metallica in that fight.

Metal is not blues with more anger. Blues has plenty of anger on its own. Metal is blues with more baroque/classical riffs.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Enki »

But I think if we are gonna talk about the intersection of blues and metal, we need to get into some nice Austin Texas style Punk flavored Rockabilly Metal.

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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by noddy »

if i was to put a single blues artist in the spotlight for white rock, its howling wolf... no disrespect to muddy waters/willy dixon/robert johnson or the rest of the inspirations but you can hear "metal" in howling wolf like no other.

hubert sumlin, what a player.

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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Ibrahim »

I thought metal had a lot of classical influence, and a number of famous metal musicians were classically trained. That famous solo on Highway Star springs to mind.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Mr. Perfect »

Zeppelin as a metal band is always debatable, AFAIK the principals do no not consider LZ to be metal.
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Re: Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder Am

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Mr. Perfect wrote:Zeppelin as a metal band is always debatable, AFAIK the principals do no not consider LZ to be metal.
I got thinking on it. I think they are proto-metal. I don't think you get to metal without going through Zep. Page himself recoiled at the label when they tried to affix it to them. I think they are so much more than that, enough that it doesn't really sit right with me, either.
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