Kopimism
Kopimism
Ranked #24,644 in
Education,
#486,925 overall
Kopimism is
based on a few basic axioms, which in turn can be traced back to our
strong defense of the intrinsic value of information, We ascribe this
value to all information irrespective of its content. Since information
and its intrinsic value are so sacred, Kopimists recognize the following
axioms:
Copying of information is ethically right.
Dissemination of information is ethically right.
Copymixing (copying and/or remixing) is a sacred kind of copying, more
so than the perfect digital copying, because it expands and enhances the
existing wealth of information.
Copying or remixing information communicated by another person is seen
as an act of respect and a strong expression of acceptance and
Kopimistic faith.
The Internet is holy.
Code is law.
You do not need to change anything when becoming a kopimist. Stay
believing in whatever you believe in, whether it is in God, Jesus,
Moses, Muhammad or anyone else. We are not a religion that provides
"all" the morality a person needs. Your morals come from you and/or
whatever God you believe in.
Philosophy
Copying is a sacred activity. Copying accurate knowledge, in a variety
of formats, for the purposes of education helps the world. My ideal
future is one where I own a library of all the books ever written that
anyone, poor or rich, can access at the push of a button for no cost.
It is important to note that, I personally believe that knowledge is
sacred. The ability to reproduce the information one possesses is
sacred.
If you are thinking of joining the
temple/church, you should read our values, as well as the first half of
the Constitution in whatever language you prefer. If you agree with the
mission of the temple/church and the values we hold sacred, you can
immediately start calling yourself a Kopimist! If you would like to
formalize your membership with the temple/church, first you should copy
one of the Kopimi pyramid images from http://www.kopimi.com/ and then
register with us using the form
Worship through meditation is sufficient to be considered part of the
Kopimist community. A person who identifies with our philosophy, whether
formally registered with the Temple/Church of Kopimism or not, is
considered a Kopimist.
Kopimism is based on a few basic axioms, which in turn can be traced
back to our strong defense of the intrinsic value of information, We
ascribe this value to all information irrespective of its content. Since
information and its intrinsic value are so sacred, Kopimists recognize
the following axioms:
Copying of information is ethically right.
Dissemination of information is ethically right.
Copymixing (copying and/or remixing) is a sacred kind of copying, more
so than the perfect digital copying, because it expands and enhances the
existing wealth of information.
Copying or remixing information communicated by another person is seen
as an act of respect and a strong expression of acceptance and
Kopimistic faith.
The Internet is holy.
Code is law.
You do not need to change anything when becoming a kopimist. Stay
believing in whatever you believe in, whether it is in God, Jesus,
Moses, Muhammad or anyone else. We are not a religion that provides
"all" the morality a person needs. Your morals come from you and/or
whatever God you believe in.
Philosophy
Copying is a sacred activity. Copying accurate knowledge, in a variety
of formats, for the purposes of education helps the world. My ideal
future is one where I own a library of all the books ever written that
anyone, poor or rich, can access at the push of a button for no cost.
It is important to note that, I personally believe that knowledge is
sacred. The ability to reproduce the information one possesses is
sacred.
Kopimism is a religion, one might even define it as a cause. Like most
religions, Kopimism is against stealing. With respect to information,
Kopimism disagrees with many copyright holders usage of the word
"stealing". We wish for the creators of content to receive due credit
for the information they create, as is done in academia. We also believe
that creators and owners of content have the right to sell their
content.
Kopimists are interested in everyone's sacred right to reproduce and
distribute information. Copyrighted content, or patents, conflict with
these beliefs. These legal instruments, when applied to content or
invention, insist that information, digital or tangible, cannot be
copied or distributed respectively.
Our issue with content owners occurs once a copy of the content is
distributed to the user. We believe that this copy, once in the users
possession, belongs to the user and that the user can copy and
distribute this information at his or her discretion (with due credit
where credit applies). An example of this would be a recipe in a cook
book. Say there is a cook book for sale at a book store and someone sees
a recipe on page 8. Kopimists believe that the reader of the book does
not need to get permission from the author of the book to give this
recipe to a friend. Furthermore, if my grandmother has an old family
recipe that is exactly the same as a recipe on page 11 in the same book,
a kopimist does not believe my grandmother would be guilty of
copyright/patent infringement.
Kopimism also takes issue with many things that are copyrighted. We do
not believe that the number one can be copyrighted, or the number two,
ad nauseum. Most people inherently believe the same about all numbers,
or even mathematics, when presented to them in this way. This Kopimist
belief causes issue with owners of digital content. All digital content,
i.e., mp3s, pdf's, avi's, etc, exist on a computer as a single integer.
You could give me a digital copy of any file such as an mp3 of Mozart's
Cello Sonata in D Major performed by Yo Yo Ma, and I could show you a
single number, in a text editor or on paper, that would be considered
protected by the copyright holder of Yo Yo Ma's music. Any digital file
can be converted back and forth to its corresponding integer.
Furthermore there are many integers, hundreds of thousands, that your
computer would read as Yo Yo Ma's music.
In short, many digital content owners believe that a number can be
owned. Even though Kopimists believe that information, i.e., personal
information, can be keep secret and that authors have the right to sell
the books they write, we fundamentally disagree that this type of
(digital) ownership can be held over the integers.
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