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From 1910 to 1911 the merit badge was called "Marksman". The name changed in 1911 to Marksmanship and was offered until 1966. From 1967 to 1987 the merit badge was called "Rifle and Shotgun Shooting". The merit badge has since been split into two different badges:

Rifle Shooting

Shotgun Shooting

Now get off my damn lawn!!!

From 1910 to 1911 the merit badge was called "Marksman". The name changed in 1911 to Marksmanship and was offered until 1966. From 1967 to 1987 the merit badge was called "Rifle and Shotgun Shooting". The merit badge has since been split into two different badges:

Rifle Shooting

Shotgun Shooting

Now get off my damn lawn!!!

The simple solution is to educate them in simple finances in school before they tend to start dropping out.

I was an Eagle Scout, Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistant Scountmaster, and finally, an Assistant Scoutmaster. I was involved with the scouting movement from the time I was seven years old until I was out of college. I would not ever want my child involved with the parsimonious, right wing ideologs that make up scoutings core today This is for several reasons. Units I have seen recently have become increasingly intolerant of difference rather than celebrating it, they have become cheerleaders for the far-right and ultra-nationalism, and they have become decreasingly involved in the outdoors. Much of the adult leadership I have seen is anti-gay, ant-flag burning, pro-marriage amendment, pro-bible-banging, out-of-shape and generally-not-the-sorts-of-people-I-want-my-son-to -learn-from. This anti-piracy merit badge is just in line with the thinking I've seen from Scout leaders.

Finally, with the increase in liability over the years, there are more and more limits to the activities troops get involved with. Fewer troops seem willing to take part in 50 mile afoot/afloat activities or go to places like Philmont Scout Ranch.

As a personal parting shot, I find the BSA's exclusion of martial arts as an acceptable activity to be ridiculous. When I was in scouts, my peers could get the athletics merit badge by: "Tak(ing) part for one full season as a member of an organized team in ONE of the following sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country, diving, fencing, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, skating (ice or roller), soccer, softball, swimming, team handball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, or wrestling (or any other recognized team sport approved in advance by your counselor, except boxing and karate)." The BSA cites safety reasons, however for karate and Chinese martial arts, the medical literature indicates that they are safer in incidence and severity of injuries than the majority of activities listed. See Birrer's article on the results of an 18 year survey. We can get into a detailed discussion of medical injuries in the martial arts later, but I find it ironic that scouting bans martial activities even though it is descended from using children as messengers on the battlefield in the 2nd Boer War.

As a (former) Scout, I can pretty much be sure that's the case. The badge requirements for the Computers merit badge look as if they were written in about 1992 last I checked (before electronic mail was shortened to email...), so I never even really considered to bother with it, though that site says they were revised in 2004. The article was incredibly thin on details, though I'd be interested to find out a bit more. Like what the thing is called. Something tells me that "Respecting Copyrights" isn't going to fit between Archery and Citizenship in the Nation, but then again I earned Dentistry and Space Exploration without the use of a dental pick or spacesuit.

I'd just like to know how many people would have any interest in earning the thing. I'm thinking that, aside from those 'have to earn them all' types, there will be very, very few.

One thing to pay attention to is that this is NOT the Boy Scout of America, rather "Boy Scouts of Los Angeles" and that it is a "merit patch" instead of a merit badge. The Boy scouts have an official list of merit badges that have to go through a long process to become official, so this is nothing more than a Los Angeles based program to teach kids about piracy.

The computers merit badge (which I earned while still in scouting) does have a discussion point that states "Is it permissible to accept a free copy of a computer game or program from a friend? Why or why not?" but that is it. The computers merit badge is highly outdated though, with something that looks akin to an Apple 2 on the badge

This article is inaccurate. A Council (local office) of the BSA cannot create their own Merit Badge. This is some local program to educate the Scouts, but whatever award they earn is not "official", and would not help them earn a rank advancement or anything like that.

Here is a list of the current Merit Badges, along with the requirements to earn each one.

If you are so inclined, consider volunteering at your local Council as a "Merit Badge Counselor". If you have expertise in a particular area covered by a Merit Badge, you may be a counselor. A scout may not earn a badge unless a counselor verifies that the scout has completed all of the requirements. So if a scout cannot find a counselor for a particular badge, they have no way of earning it.

For more information, see this training page, this guide and the application form.

Note the current requirement #8 for Computers Merit Badge in the U.S.: http://www.meritbadge.com/mb/036.htm

8. Is it permissible to accept a free copy of a computer game or program from a friend? Why or why not?

The full requirement list can be found here.

I still stole software before and after earning the badge, and pretty much all of my troop members traded games and stole music like any other typical set of adolescent men.

However, as an Eagle Scout, I have changed my stance and was disappointed that this merit badge didn't make it to the states.

Scouting not your speed? Adults not willing to help out with troop logistics occasionally? Go grab your local equivilent of Computer Bits and find your local gaming groups. Yeah, it's not really reducing hours gamed, but it's getting that all-important social interaction, which is the ultimate goal.

Gaming too much is more of a social issue than a technological one, and one that requires a social solution.

Scouting not your speed? Adults not willing to help out with troop logistics occasionally? Go grab your local equivilent of Computer Bits and find your local gaming groups. Yeah, it's not really reducing hours gamed, but it's getting that all-important social interaction, which is the ultimate goal.

Gaming too much is more of a social issue than a technological one, and one that requires a social solution.

Scouting not your speed? Adults not willing to help out with troop logistics occasionally? Go grab your local equivilent of Computer Bits and find your local gaming groups. Yeah, it's not really reducing hours gamed, but it's getting that all-important social interaction, which is the ultimate goal.

Gaming too much is more of a social issue than a technological one, and one that requires a social solution.

I'm an Eagle Scout, and YES I do have the rifle shooting merit badge. -- Matt