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MPAA School Propaganda Program Examined
Anonymous Coward copies-and-pastes: "'As part of its campaign to thwart online music and movie piracy, Hollywood is now reaching into school classrooms with a program that denounces file-sharing and offers prizes for students and teachers who spread the word about Internet theft. The Motion Picture Association of America paid $100,000 to deliver its anti-piracy message to 900,000 students nationwide in grades 5-9 over the next two years, according to Junior Achievement Inc., which is implementing the program using volunteer teachers from the business sector." Only $100,000 to advertise to 900,000 students? What a deal! We mentioned this earlier.
And we all know how much THAT works.
At least taxpayers aren't paying for it.
Anytime you tell a kid that something's bad, their first instinct is to go investigate it. After listening to the **AA's lectures, they'll immediately go home and log on the net to see what this "Kazaa" thing is.
From the article:
"If you haven't paid for it, you've stolen it."
I honestly hope that this program has a more complex take on IP than this. I can easily think of many, many things on line that can be obtained for free, legally. (the entire contents of sourceforge comes to mind.) IP law is phenomenally complicated and cannot be boiled down to simple slogans and sound bytes.
Let's make a difference
This reminds me of one of my favorite books, 'A Brave New World'. :-)
Program the kids while they are young and by the time they are adolescents they may think copying music (not stealing
is as bad as physically stealing from a store. I wonder if someday some kid will be
like "Copying music is worst than stealing cars"
Help pay for my wedding! Go to my kickass website
They already know more about Kazaa, filesharing, and the Internet than most adults.
...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Why should any business or company be allowed to advertise in school, regardless of what their message is.
Besides what are they teaching the kids, that it doesn't matter if you make a load of worthless crap aslong as you have lawyers to back you up? yea great.
Andrew Irgens-Moller, 14, buried his head into a backpack on his desk and rolled his eyes as the guest teacher warned of computer viruses and hackers that could take control of a user's desktop via file-sharing programs. He objected that antivirus software could scan downloaded files and only sophisticated hackers could pull off the remote desktop computer takeover.
Then the teacher cut him off.
These are brainwashing tactics... It is downright scary that these "guest teachers" are even allowed to spread such FUD. If they want to move young kids away from filesharing, try at least to feed them with false information.
"Your computer can be taken over at the minute you install Kazaa"
With the average volunteer who might want to help kids in the local school districts learn to read or to operate a computer. Schools would require such a person to navigate a bureaucratic maze for weeks.
But for $100,000, they'll gladly put the taxpayer-funded curriculum on hold for the day and allow a live advertisement for the latest feature film to kids who can't read or construct a complete sentence. Incredible.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
If they passed out pamphlets to the students, at least they won't be able to read them.
"Why Can't Johnny Read ?"
--- Because the teachers spend more time trying to brainwash and subdue the little brats than actually teaching them perhaps ?
Lovely...
Do any lawyers think there might be a case for equal time/access ? Send Linus or RMS around to teach kids for a while...
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
I wrote a long comment about this and the program last time this was mentioned.
There are some links to the pdf files in the program there.
The Starving Artist is a discussion based game where students are divided in group and shall produce a CD but then they are ripped off by "file swapping". "how does this makes you feel?"
I must say that $100,000 is dirt cheap for a program like this.
Melius mori in libertate quam vivere in servitute.
This is really bad. Not so much because the MPAA is going to schools to deliver it's particular propaganda. But because ANY group from private industry can buy access to school kids.
What's next? Representatives from the Brokerage industry going to grade schools to preach the virtues of buying stock? Fast food evangelists marching freely through classrooms brainwashing kids to eat only Happy Meals.
The MPAA is evil. But no more evil than any other industry group that will push it's own profits at the expense of all else. We are truely losing our integrity as a society if we let any of them into our schools.
I participated in JA when I was in high school, all those years ago; I was actually about to approach them locally and start participating as a volunteer. Frickin' forget THAT now. What are they thinking, acting as a forum where organizations can pay to disseminate information for their agendas?
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Customers: Shop wisely. You are voting with your dollars. If you accept draconian DRM, you will NEVER get your freedom back. You must protect your individual rights by choosing the best product and not buying based solely on emotionally exciting advertising hype or getting pushed around by impotent corporate shortcuts to profitability.
Corporations: Adapt to the changing environment as you have always done. Listen to the customers and do everything possible to keep these informed consumers on your side. Search for innovative ways to improve your product, streamline your processes, and still make a REASONABLE amount of money. Stay alive to serve the customers tomorrow.
Here's a quick rundown of some of the main gripes consumers have with big media products today:
Things Wrong with Movies: Overpriced movies to match the overpriced snacks, Ben Affleck and J-Lo, crappy plots (which also may fall under the Ben Affleck category), $20+ million dollar salaries for actors which leads to increased ticket prices, irritating and useless copy-protection on DVDs, etc.
Things Wrong with Music: Overpriced CDs, Britney Spears, not enough money given to the artists, Britney Spears, generic one-hit wonder boy bands pushed like a cheap drug, Britney Spears, general refusal to adapt to the internet (thank Apple for what innovation there is there), etc.
Things Wrong with Satellite: Well, nothing.... We're just stealing that because we can.
The Starving Artist is a discussion based game where students are divided in group and shall produce a CD but then they are ripped off
Whee! Hey kids, let's play Starving Artist! It's FUN!
Students are divided into groups, in which each group 'produces' a CD. When finished, they submit their CD to local radio stations hoping it will be played, and try to get them sold in record stores, only to find out that the radio only plays material presented by a members of a certain association, and the shelf-space at the store is contractually obligated to hold only that association's material. The best they can get is the one small indie store on the bad side of town will put some copies in a cardboard box up near the register with 'indie bands' written on it in magic marker. How does this make them feel?
Then the students shop their CD to association-affiliated record labels. After repeated rejections, the students finally learn that if they want their CD heard, they have to accept a contract that pays them, at most, 4.5 cents per $18 CD sold. How does this make them feel?
Students then put up a website and let people download MP3s of their CD for free, with an online store selling 'real' packaged CDs, along with T-Shirts, posters, keychains, and other such merchandise, with all profits going directly to the students. Students calculate how many 4.5-cent CDs they'd have to sell to make the same as the $6 profit from a single CD sale on their own site, even selling at half the association's price. How does THIS make them feel?
Then they learn that the association is rigging consumer devices such that their independent CDs can't play unless they pay fifteen grand to the association for a 'key.' And they can only buy the key if they agree to the 4.5-cent contract and let the association have all the merch sales. Students calculate how much an extra $1.60 per-CD royalty tax eats into their bottom lines, the cost of lost T-Shirt sales, and how many 4.5-cent CDs it would take to pay off the $15,000 for a key. How does this make them feel?
End of lesson discussion: Why are artists starving?
OPTIONAL: If time permits, the teacher may role-play a visiting guest teacher who tries to tell them that they're criminals for daring to want to produce or enjoy music without paying the association. Hilarity ensues.