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If you thought Wikipedia's 24-hour blackout was a brilliant tactic against the supposedly draconian Stop Online Piracy Act, chances are you have not heard of Isak Gerson, a 20-year-old philosophy student at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Gerson is the founder and 'spiritual leader' of the Missionary Church of Kopimism, which preaches filesharing, even if it is unauthorised and illegal. Kopimism, derived from the words 'copy me', says the act of copying is sacred, and that even if it infringes copyright laws, it would not amount to stealing. Kopimism would have remained obscure, had Gerson not filed for recognition as a religion. After turning down the request thrice, Sweden, one of the most wired countries in the world, recently gave it religion status.
For the film and music industry, the move has come as a shock. Kopimism, like other recognised religions, can now seek protection from persecution. It means any action from the part of copyright holders to defend their property can now be viewed as an infringement on the Kopimists' right to practise their religion. With thousands of netizens joining every week, and The Pirate Bay, the world's most popular filesharing site, now operating under the auspices of the church, Kopimism might just become the world's fastest growing religion.
www.the-week.com
If Sophocles were to hear how the financial crisis in Greece is breaking families, the ancient tragedian would be inspired to pen a greater opus than Oedipus the King.
With their health and social services in tatters, the debt-stricken Greeks are struggling to provide for their characteristic large families. In Athens, some parents have abandoned their children in orphanages, church charities and even kindergartens. That the crisis had become really serious became evident when it was reported that Dimitris Gasparinatos, a father of ten, had put in an official request for his four children to be taken into foster care. According to him, it was the only way to save them.
Last month, a kindergarten teacher received a note about one of her four-year-old pupils. It read: “I will not be coming to pick up Anna today because I cannot afford to look after her. Please take good care of her. Sorry. Her mother.” Father Antonios, an Orthodox priest who runs a shelter for the destitute, found four children, including a baby just days old, abandoned on his doorstep. “These families,” he said, “will be judged for their action.”
However, Antonios's is an opinion that an increasing number of Athenians are at odds with. Said Sofia Kouhi of The Smile of a Child, a charity: “It is very sad... but [the parents] know it is for the best, at least for this period.”
