Hong Kong Boy Scouts to Protect IP

phresno writes "Declan McCullagh at C|net's News.com has a short article on the development that the Hong Kong Boy Scouts Association has teamed up with the MPA to create an intellectual property merit badge. Mike Ellis of the MPA hopes this program will 'provide thousands of young people -- future leaders -- with a better understanding of the value of intellectual property.' Those with tinfoil hats will surely be thinking of the youth in Orwell's 1984."

Comments

Re:Or..

[Sandbox Conspiracy]

Kids also make the best soldiers since they lack the life perspective of adults (my theory). I was recently reading an article about Ugandan rebels who kidnap children from orphanages to retrain them into miniature killing machines. The truly chilling part was the brutal unquestioning efficiency with which the children carried out executions of prisoners.

Re:This is sick

[brontus3927]

With the exception of maybe 5% (2% who earn the rank of Eagle, and maybe 3% who care but aren't able to make it that far) of Boy Scouts, scouting is about being in a social club. There are over 100 merit badges, maybe 2 dozen relate to the core of scouting. The rest are things that started out as an opportunity to educate young people on technologies (like Computers and atomic energy), become horribly out of date because there isn't enough interest in updating them, and scouts (if they can find a leader certified to sign off on that badge) getting them to have a longer list of badges. When I was a scout in the 90's, my troop (which was an Eagle generating powerhouse, averaging 2/year in a troop with a membership ~30) more than half of the merit badges didn't have anyone qualified to teach them. I went to a jamboree to get my Computers merit badge, and the book had images of an Apple IIG!

Below are the requirements for the Computers Merit Badge which was "updated" a few years ago:

1. Give a short history of computers. Describe the major parts of a computer system. Give four different uses of computers.
2. Do the following:
   1. Tell what a program is and how it is developed.
   2. Give three examples of programming languages and what types of programming they are used for.
   3. Describe a source program and an object program.
3. Show how the following may be stored in computer memory: text, numbers, pictures, and sound.
4. Do THREE of the following:
   1. Use a database manager to create a troop roster, providing name, rank, patrol, and telephone number of each Scout. Sort the register by rank, by patrol, and alphabetically by name.
   2. Use a spreadsheet program to develop a weekend campout food budget for your patrol.
   3. Use a word processor to write a letter to parents of your troop's Scouts, inviting them to a court of honor. Use the mail merge feature to make a personalized copy of the letter for each family.
   4. Use a computer graphics program to design and draw a campsite plan for your troop.
5. Do TWO of the following:
   1. Visit a business or industry that uses computers. Study what the computer accomplishes and be prepared to discuss what you observed.
   2. Use a computer attached to a local area network or equipped with a modem to connect to a computer network or bulletin-board service such as Prodigy, CompuServe, or America Online. Send a message to someone on the network or download a program or file from the network.
   3. Use a general-purpose programming language to write a program application of your choice, subject to approval by your counselor.
6. Be prepared to discuss several terms used in each of the following categories:
   1. Input/output devices
   2. Storage media
   3. Memory
   4. Processors and coprocessors
   5. Modems
   6. Networks
   7. Electronic mail
   8. Robotics
7. Be prepared to discuss various jobs in the computer field.
8. Is it permissible to accept a free copy of a computer game or program from a friend? Why or why not?
9. Describe several ways in which you and your family could use a personal computer other than for games and recreation.

This is not what you think

[some1somewhere]

As usual, the media distorts the picture.

Actually, this "badge" is useless. The number of kids going around buying copy PS2 games, CDs, etc. is amazing in Hong Kong. I'd say over 99% of PS2 games, software, DVDs, etc. in Hong Kong are copies/counterfeit. No doubt, they'll just get the badge and continue on their merry way as usual.

Counterfeit software and goods is a way of life and culture in Hong Kong, China, and many places in Asia. You have "Woman's Street", which is an ENTIRE long street dedicated to fake goods. You even have police patrolling the area to keep it safe from pickpockets! But they are never shut down. Go there to find your "LV" bags, "Dior" rings, and "Rolex" watches.

In fact, now that they have made it safer to go to these places, MORE tourists are turning up. There are less seedy types and more goods now.

So I really think this is a pointless exercise. Now that China and HK are working together more, even MORE copy stuff is going to HK. And with HK's famous low crime rate and focus on making money and business, it is the IDEAL place to get these kind of things: total safe, cheap, available everywhere.

Re:This is sick

[goldspider]

May I be the first to say "GET BENT!" With that off my chest, might I refer you to our Bill of Rights.

Specifically: "...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble"

The Boy Scouts, or any private group for that matter, may exclude whomever they so choose, for any reason. This particular group does not believe that homosexuality or atheism are acceptable lifestyles.

Who are YOU to impose your beliefs upon them? Isn't that the very thing you people are fond of accusing 'conservative' groups of doing?

It is petty of you to deride an organization that first and foremost encourages community volunteerism and service. It is best that people like you don't associate with the Boy Scouts; your involvement would taint their good work.

Re:This is sick

[Tassach]

MPAA DOES have some legitimate gripes

I don't consider "our business model has been made obsolete by technology" to be a legitimate gripe.

"Intellectual Property" is a legal fiction, created with the explicit purpose of encouraging progress in the arts and sciences. In the days before costless electronic duplication, granting a temporary legal monopoly on a work was a good strategy to achieve this end. However, modern technology has called into question the validity of this definition of "property". It's legitimate to challenge the notion that a particular combination of words, sounds, and images can be owned for all eternity (even if eternity is purchased on an installment plan).