And lo’ they shared the files, and ’twas good. Anti-piracy efforts may soon be labeled as religious persecution as the Swedish government has apparently recognized file sharing as an official religion.
Meet Philosophy student Isak Gerson, who is the mind behind the Church of Kopimism. Gerson founded the Missionary Church of Kopimism in 2010, and filed a request with authorities to officially accept his belief system in order for Kopimism to avoid persecution.
It took three request over the past year to finally convince the Administrative Services Agency to recognize the church. According to Torrent Freak, after the first two attempts, the Church was asked to formalize its way of prayer in order to be recognized.
Koptimism roughly translates to ‘copy me’. The tenets are simple: Control-C and Control-V are sacred symbols. Kopimists believe that the copying and sharing information is ethically right, and knowledge should not be hoarded. Information’s value increases as it is shared. Remixing content is a sacred kind of copying the Church terms ‘Remix Spirit’.
The religion has a priest class called the Oparnas, who exemplify Kopimist virtues and assist others to follow the Kopimist path. Those that wish to become part of the Kopimist faith must undergo a rite of disclosing their personal data to the organization, profess faith in information and copying and download the logo from the site.
Currently, the Church has around 3,000 official members, tripling from 1,0000 in the last half of the year. Though the Swedish state has recognized Kopimism, copyright infringement is still not legally permitted. Isak Gerson said in an interview, “there’s still a legal stigma around copying for many. A lot of people still worry about going to jail when copying and remixing. I hope in the name of Kopimi that this will change.”
Tip of the Hat to Super-Blogger David Ing in Google Circles.
These days, WordPress acts more like a development framework or a PaaS (Platform as a Service), says WooThemes CEO Adii Pienaar. And in the last year, several new services have sprung up to help make WordPress a platform in the truest sense of the word.
The call for a “Heroku for WordPress” is by now a common refrain. WordPress, if you’re not aware, powers half of the top 100 blogs and 14.7 percent of the top one million websites in the world. In the U.S., 22 out of every 100 new domains run on WordPress today.
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These days, WordPress acts a lot more like a development framework or a PaaS (Platform as a Service). The full WordPress stack is not just integrated, it’s mature. And in the last year, several new services have sprung up to provide the missing pieces that today make WordPress a platform in the truest sense of the word.
Networked individualism is reshaping social interaction as we renegotiate the balance between the one and the many
OUR social relationships are changing and technology is at the centre of this unfolding story.
Take stock of your own world. You probably have a few family members and friends who mean the world to you. Then there are the many acquaintances, contacts, “followers” and “consequential strangers” who you only interact with occasionally but who serve useful purposes when you have questions, need to make decisions or require a helping hand.
Your ties to all of them, especially those in the outer reaches of your network, are increasingly mediated through digital technology – from email to Facebook to Skype calls.
This new social operating system has been emerging for several generations but has accelerated in growth thanks to the recent triple revolution: the widespread adoption of broadband, ubiquitous mobile connectivity and the move from bounded groups – largely closed circles of interlinked contacts – to multiple social networks.
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With such a fundamental social shift linked to still-developing technology, how it unfolds needs to be considered. We think there are two possible scenarios.
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Tired of high cost mobile phones? Feel guilty that while you’ve got a paper thin phone, it’s hard to recycle elements are destroying the planet ? Turns out, you don’t need Samsung or LG to stay in touch with those you love.
David A. Mellis, from MITs High-Low Tech group, has created a DIY mobile phone out of easily obtained electronic parts and a little bit of plywood. It may not have the internet connectivity or giant touchscreen of your current mobile phone, but it’s a completely self-made, operational phone, which means it’s low impact and free from the constraints of mass production.
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According to Mellis, the initial prototype combines a custom electronic circuit board with a laser-cut plywood and veneer enclosure. The phone accepts a standard SIM card and works with any GSM provider. Cellular connectivity is provided by the SM5100B GSM Module, available from SparkFun Electronics. The display may only be about 1.8″ across, but it does offer color images. Currently, the software supports voice calls, but the folks at High-Low Tech say SMS and other functionality could be added with the same hardware. Altogether the prototype contains about $150 in parts.
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“By creating and sharing open-source designs for the phone’s circuit board and case, we hope to encourage a proliferation of personalized and diverse mobile phones,” say the designers. Want to give it a try? The source code, circuit design files (Eagle), and case design files (Inkscape) are hosted in the damellis/cellphone repository on GitHub.
Phi Beta Iota: Combined with OpenBTS and Open Spectrum, this puts the stake in the heart of both governments and corporations seeking to create scarcity instead of infinite access.
