Holy P2P! File-sharing now official religion in Sweden...

Kopimi has been attempting to gain official recognition as a religion. ... The Missionary Church of Kopimism is now officially registered as a religious organization in Sweden.
...
Kopimists hold CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols and believe that "communication is sacred." ... The Missionary Church of Kopimism currently has over 3000 members and growing.   

  
Ernesto plays along:

The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing. ... While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there [are] people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act.
...
After two failed attempts, where the Church was asked to formalize its [liturgy], the authorities finally recognized [it] as an official religion. ... [The] Church’s founder hopes that their beliefs will be considered in future lawmaking.
...
Prospective followers...are of course welcome to join the movement, free of charge.   

Michael Santo quotes its founder:

The Church’s founder, Philosophy student Isak Gerson hopes that [this] will "increase church attendance," so to speak.
...
"There’s still a legal stigma around copying for many. ... [P]eople still worry about going to jail when copying and remixing. I hope in the name of Kopimi...that this will change."
...
"We confessional Kopimists...not only [depend] on each other in this struggle, but on everyone who is copying. ... Keep copying. Maintain hardline Kopimi."   

Jeff Hughes gives us a bit of comparative religion:

Kopimists believe that...sharing of information is ethically right...knowledge should not be hoarded...[its] value increases as it is shared. Remixing...is a sacred kind of copying.
...
The religion has a priest class called the Oparnas, who exemplify Kopimist virtues. ... Those that wish to become part of the Kopimist faith must undergo a rite of disclosing their personal data...profess faith in information and copying and download the logo from the site.   

But prakslash thinks Gerson is going about this the wrong way:

"Freedom of Religion" rights enshrined in the constitutions of most countries rarely provide for exceptions to...laws. ... A better path is being followed by the Pirate Party who actually seeks to change...laws.   

Although SuricouRaven disagrees, noting U.S. cases:

A native American tribe managed to successfully challenge the Migratory Bird Act so they could sacrifice...golden eagles as part of their rituals.
...
The Amish...requir[e] all buildings be produced [by] the community, which means they can't use fireproofing treatments...required by state law.   

Meanwhile, obarthelemy quips, "It could be worse":

They could preach slavery, rape, murder, hating on gays/women/divorcees.   

  
And Finally...
Fishing under ice in Finland (mind blown)
[hat tip: Chris Lackey]
  
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards on behalf of Computerworld. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.