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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."
BSA - I thought they make Motorcycles
Yeah, the DARE program worked really well as an example...
Seems to me that teaching this in the schools gives the kids something to rebel against later.
Denver Isuzu Suzuki
In the article, it notes that we can write in "Sterling Ball" the guy who jettisoned all MS products after getting raided by the BSA.
Anyone know where the url is so we can vote?
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
Major corporations funding and developing, copyright (their way) indoctrination programs for school children...nice. How much do you want bet fair-use is left completely out along with that annoying part of Title 17 chapter 1 section 107 that says:
"(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. -
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
(1)
that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or
(2)
that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful."
Full text of Section 117 avaliable here.
The BSA's favorite method is sending out threat letters to small-mid sized businesses, and warning about the dire consequences of having pirated software. The place I work got one, and the boss freaked out- especially since 1 Office 2000 CD had been used for all 6 computers in the office. The letter basically said we had 1 month to take care of any abuses, and if they caught us after that with illegal stuff, there would be hell to pay (since we were on notice).
I got some nice OEM copies to make us legit, but they never showed up. I heard a bunch of people throughout our area got these letters (San Diego), and I didn't really hear about anyone getting busted.
Also, do you like the idea of your kids being trained to rat out their peers? Always be a snitch? How far does it go... Should we also have them snitch on Mommy & Daddy?
Many moons ago there was a small video with some unknown rapper talking about the effects of piracy to 2 kids.
Someone's got it on the web somewhere. Quite possibly the funniest thing you have ever seen for propaganda.
Actually, most nibbler copiers of the Apple2/Commodore days worked by duplicating the low-level GCR format of the disk, not a byte/nybble/bit copy (although there were disk copiers that worked like that too)
So I guess we shouldn't teach our kids that stealing is wrong. Right? Wrong.
If you don't want to pay for the music, then don't pay for it -- but you don't have any right to listen to it if it's being offered for sale and you refuse to pay for it.
If you don't like that a movie screening costs $8, you don't have the right to go into the theater and watch it without paying.
I'm now waiting for your semantic argument that argues that copyright infringement is not the same as stealing, and therefore allows you to rationalize that ripping people off is OK. By all means, respond.
evil adrian
You have to check out this game they cooked up to go along with this drivel. Notice that the CDs are "bad" along with the skull and cross bones. And, don't forget to grab to licenses or else your current business model might fail! "No thanks mom, I don't really want Doom 3 anymore now that I can play Pirate Deep Freeze!"
Reminds me of the ~15 yr old campaign "Don't Copy That Floppy", with a rap song and dance and everything. It was way cooler than this half-arsed shite... ^_^
16 mb "Don't Copy That Floppy"
Intellectual property is not the same as physical property (for example, it [theoretically] expires) but let's not descend into the usual word games. Can you recognize, however, that -- though this does not justify infringement -- the copyright system is in fact malfunctioning, especially due to the unreasonably long time that passes before a work enters the public domain? And can we agree that the corporate stakeholders have persuaded the government to abandon the historic "copyright bargain" interpretation? And that late additions such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act have tilted the playing field away from balanced -- in part by creating "access control rights" that have no grounding in the Constitution and, menacingly, no expiration date?
You don't have to be a eyepatch-wearing download junkie to see that things have gone awry.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
The problem is that we (as a public) pay people to develop curriculum and establish benchmarks and goals for our students to learn from and achieve. This is basically allowing a political group to come in and teach their own program, interrupting what the teachers may need to be teaching.
Maybe learning about copyright law is a good thing, but it should be a part of the developed curriculum and part of what students are held accountable for. What other groups are you willing to let force their way into a school with a cute cartoon character? The republican party? The democrats? Christian Scientists? Skinheads? The North Carolina Quilting Association?
This kind of thing simply does not belong in the classroom because outside parties should not be pushing their agendas in the classroom. If they want their lessons taught, they should present them to the bodies involved in developing curriculumm, which through school boards, represent the people.
It's not a matter of open source, it's a matter of a corporation using the public education system to indoctrinate people. I have similar beefs with Subway, Coca Cola, etc. - all of whom have encroached on my old High School in the name of hooking kids on their brand early. There's a particular marketing term for the practice of impressing a brand on people before they're old enough to make decisions (so they later decide on that brand), but I don't recall it at the moment.
The BSA has a specific agenda that they most certainly will benefit from financially if they can impress it on kids early on and make it stick. If they were only teaching the facts about copyright laws or providing those materials that do so, that's fine. However, this reaks of marketing and promotion, not education. That doesn't belong in a public school. If they think that copyright laws need to receive more focus, they can go to school board meetings like everyone else.
As far as emacs - emacs is the one true editor!!! .... oops... sorry, wrong discussion ;)
I don't think learning about the GNU - if it was relevant to the class - would be bad, but RMS is not the best person to be teaching it. The nice thing is, since it's OSS, you could always take that out. I'm not a particularly big fan of RMS, and I only use the GPL when I have no intention of using the code I write commercially...
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
I sure hope that weasel/stoat/whatever doesn't forget to remind kids that they have Fair Use rights too, guaranteed by law!
p.s. As for a name, I'm torn between "Frank Burns" and "Ratfink".
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Don't cut n paste, please, but here's a copy of my email to pr@weeklyreader.com:
l aws/2100-1012_3-5303966.html .
Subject: BAS Alliance?
I recently read how Weekly Reader was going to help educate children and teens about copyright law from CNET, at http://news.com.com/Ferreting+out+copyright+scoff
I remember enjoying Weekly Reader when I was young, going over your website today has made me realize how much has changed over the years.
While I understand this is primarily a business decision, I want to urge you to reconsider distributing their supplement.
As a IT professional I am very familiar with the tactics the BSA and similar 'non-profit' organizations use to intimidate and deceive. While the company I work for is in compliance with current copyright laws, we must spend an inordinate amount of time and resources making certian that we can also prove we are in compliance.
I heartily encourage you to educate your readers on copyright laws, where they came from, what purpose they are meant to serve, and how they have changed and adapted over the decades to meet new challenges. I would strongly urge you against allowing the BSA to perform this education as I can assure you they are interested in how copyright protects copyright owners, and not how copyright also protects individuals and users of copyrighted works.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter!
-Adam
Morality is so last century eh? So your the one practicing traditional values? I don't know what your roots are, but my ancestors certainly didn't pay any mind to ownership of ideas.
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
The question in this situation is not whether downloading music is moral or not, but whether or not children should be taught about it in schools by industry designed programs.
Call me cynical, but I am a lot more concerned about indoctrinization in schools than I am about downloading music.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players