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BSA Asks Kids to Name Copyright Weasel
theodp writes "According to CNET News, this fall, 4th-graders will not only be treated to comic books and lesson plans from the Business Software Alliance and Weekly Reader, but also invited to name the BSA's mascot, a copyright-crusading ferret who teaches tech-savvy kids about the importance of protecting and respecting copyrighted works such as software, music, games and movies. More details in the BSA press release."
something to the effect of The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation is the philosophy of the government in the next. This seems a good way for organizations to get laws changed in their favor.
I have no
BSA Asks Kids to Name Copyright Weasel
At least they choose the right animal. Has anyone heard when SCO will be letting us name their skunk mascot?
While I will teach my child what *I* believe is right and wrong, we can hope that the children of parents that are not quite as diligent see thru this garbage.
Perhaps with a bit of luck this attempt at brainwashing will totally backfire.
Home schooling becomes more appealing each day.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
>> This is bad because... ?
You're assuming the "education" provided will not be one-sided and will include fair use.
Because this has no place in the classroom, that's why.
How about Captain Copyright?
See how the dauntless Captain Copyright sells out its friend to the BSA for talking about copying software.
Laught when Captain Copyright battles with the fearsom Product Pirates (and see how they get locked up for 30 years for running an illegal copy of Windows XP).
Be fascinated how Captian Copyright bribes and lobbies the Congress to introduce capital punishment for product theft.
+++ MELON MELON MELON +++ Out of Cheese Error +++ redo from start +++
Seriously, though, I'm not sure where the joke ends and the reality begins. They're going to have an animal mascot to teach kids about their (the BSA's) view of copyright? It works for breakfast cereal ("They're gRRRRRRReat!") so I guess it will work for getting kids to rat out their friends for mod-chipping an x-box.
However, they seem to be forgetting something from their school years - NOBODY likes a snitch. Most of the kids who have x-boxes or similar consoles at home are keenly aware of how the price of a game compares to their weekly allowance, and their reaction to seeing a chipped console would most likely be "cool, where can I get one, too?"
-paul
Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
more seriously though, what about things like financial education? i know maybe not for 4th graders, but at least in our junior and high schools. home economics taught me how to so a pillow, but not how to balance a checkbook or use a credit card responsibly (not that i have problems, the only debt i have is mortgage). so many young adults are thrown into financial problems without a clue on how to manage their money
it's a shame we don't spend the money in public education on something like this.
R.I.P.
Because they won't give a complete and fair review of copyright laws. Corporation interests will be put before the truth, and this will be nothing more than de-education. Not to mention they are teaching a very complex subject to an age group that doesn't understand legal issues well enough to understand the subject correctly.
Because this is a private business alliance attempting to use the public education system to maintain their influence in the market. Besides, how is this different from issues of "legislating morality?" Are the students given a one-sided view? Is the fact that the copyright (at least in a number of cases pertaining to movies and music) is not held by the original creator but by one of the cartels funding the BSA discussed at all? Are the students given a lesson on the original "limited monopoly" intention of copyright and patent, or is this just intended to perpetuate the current status quo? Also, how does this really advance the state of America's already poor-quality primary education institutions? There are any number of reasons to be suspicious of this.
A Cyber-Ethics Champion Code with items such as
Why? First of all, use of the mark is now optional, at least in the U.S. Second, the mark itself doesn't explain to the child (or anyone else) whether or not a program may be copied (e.g., GPL'd software is copyrighted). The license does. Which leads us to...
So the assumption is that a child young enough to be attracted to the weasel-ferret-whatever mascot will read and understand the license agreements included with his or her software? Perhaps the BSA wants to donate to some sort of fund for early legal education?
I guess the problem I have with all this is, there's currently a lot of controversy surrounding free software, copyright, patents, and other "intellectual property" issues, and if we're not prepared to educate our children about the issues, we shouldn't allow the "voice of the world's commercial software industry" to do it for us, any more than we allow McDonald's to educate our children about nutrition. Oh, wait...
Because pushing an issue on school children, trying to form their opinions at a young age, on behalf of CORPORATIONS, smacks of manipulation and self-rightousness.
Because the BSA is a blackmailing, self-interested money hungry group of lawyers which strongarms small businesses into "compliance", trying to bluff business owners into thinking they are guilty until proven innocent.
Because controversial issues that are not directly related to education or universally accepted understandings of right and wrong have no place in the public education system.
I wouldn't have the BSA forcefeeding my kids their garbage anymore than I'd invite PETA in the classroom. Either way, God willing that we can afford it, I'm not sending my kids anywhere near a public classroom if and when the day comes.
---
WARNING:Slashdot karma not redeemable in the afterlife.
This set in wheels in motion to have those segragation laws declared unconstitutional in the USA.
It is your moral duty to refuse to obey laws that you know are simply wrong and immoral. It's called "civil disobedience" and has has a pretty decent track history of causing positive change without too much bloodshed.
PS: Note that I'm not specifically saying that this mp3 downloading ruckus falls in that category. I'm just saying that your affirmation that all laws need to be obeyed is just not right.
Attached to the article is a lovely little game called Deep Freeze, and Christ almighty is it hard.
The point of the game is that you're supposed to use Rat Bastard (As I'm now referring to the Weasel) to kick a ball to destroy Pirates (Represented by a Skull and Crossbones) and Software (Represented by a CD. Note that I said software, not illegal software, just plain software. Interesting...) all while collecting Licenses to protect your city.
Ah, yes, you're asking the same question I was, "Protect it from what?" Quickly, you will learn the answer, to protect your fair city from being "frozen" by software piracy. The game is ridiculouslyhard and as far as I played it, is impossible to win. I can only assume that this is by design to show kids how hard it is to "defend" against the deluge of pirated software.
Man, does anyone else feel like they're in some kind of really weird, fucked up movie with a bad plot everytime they read this absolutly insane software piracy shit? Seriously, it seems like I'm inside of some horrible plot hole whenever I read the BSA is working in conjunction with Weekly Reader (Which I remember from back when I was in school) in order to indoctrinate 4th graders to believe software piracy is some sort of scourge of the Universe. Back when I read Weekly Reader, it had stuff about all kinds of exotic animals, something about space, or just anything else kids thought was really cool. Now it teaches them about Copyright laws?
What the fuck? This country really needs to get its shit back together. I love America, but I fear for our future when corporations can have the power to set ciriculum, especially for such young, impressionable kids like this.
Request: ECM unit, 1000 km fullerene cable, 1 tactical nuclear weapon. Reason: Birthday party for foreign dignitary.