Sweden: File sharing not act of worship

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 7 (UPI) -- Swedish officials ruled against a Swedish group's attempt to have Internet file sharing classified as an act of religious worship.

The Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency rejected the attempt by the Pirate Party of Uppsala to have their information copying and spreading activities registered as a religious faith known as The Missionary Church of Kopimism, The Local reported Thursday.

The church's name came from the "Kopimi" -- pronounced "copy me" -- logo placed on the Web sites of people who are willing to have the contained information copied.

Isak Gerson, missionary director at the Church of Kopimism, said he does not know why the application was rejected.

"It feels bitter. Last time we applied there were valid reasons for their rejection. We've had a dialogue with them since then, and sent in a new application with changes based on this dialogue," he said. "So it feels rough not to know why we were rejected."

The Pirate Party, founded in 2006, is aimed at the legalization of Internet file-sharing and promoting Internet privacy.