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MPAA Funds School Programs In Copyright Dogma
Matthew Skala writes "This article from the Boston Globe describes the 'What's The Diff?' program, in which U.S. students and teachers can win prizes by learning to endorse the MPAA's version of copyright law. They're using volunteer labour from Junior Achievement - not an organization I would have expected to see doing this kind of thing. I guess I'll have to move its card over in my mental Illuminati: New World Order game."
The volunteer and the teacher worked from a 25-page classroom guide to explain the concept of using a computer to download files, which they called ''morally and ethically wrong." The students played roles such as ''The Film Producer," ''The Starving Artist," and were asked questions such as ''Has anyone ever copied your homework? How did this make you feel?"
By the end of one session, the teacher asked one boy: ''Will you stop copying music online and download the right way?"
''Yes," he answered. ''I'll go to the music store and buy more CDs."
Students learn to repeat the program's motto: ''If you don't pay for it, you've stolen it."
I'm not even going to get into how wrong this is...
"Anyone who quotes me in their
However, DARE has been an awesome failure.
The success of the program isn't measured in how many kids failed to learn from it. The success is measured in how many kids did learn from it.
Drug use in America's high schools is at an all-time low.
You can even legally swap material, as long as it's not for commercial gain, said Seltzer. ''People tape movies on their VCRs and swap it with friends without getting arrested for piracy," she said.
Yeah, about that. That's not actually true. The second part is, I mean: people do pirate movies without getting arrested for it. But the first part is false. Just because you're not getting hauled off in leg-irons doesn't mean it's not against the law.
What's the diff in having 3 friends that swap movies off HBO or 3 Billion friends swapping some AC/DC albums?
The "diff," obviously, is a matter of degrees. Society can stand a little bit of unlawful activity. Too much of it, however, results in the collapse of the law.
It's the same as asking what the "diff" is between having a small infection under a fingernail and a massive, systemic case of sepsis overwhelming your entire body. It's all the same bacteria, right? What's the big deal?
I write in my journal