Slashdot Mirror
Captain Copyright Targets Kids
frank249 writes "The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency has set up a copyright education website called Captain Copyright. There is a section for kids with comic books and a section for teachers for grades 1-3, 3-6 and 6-8. An example of a grade 1 class activity: 'Present the following situation to students: Your friend is downloading a song off the Internet. In comes Captain Copyright. Ask: What do you think Captain Copyright will say?
Encourage students to brainstorm. Then hand out (or read) Line Master: Some Copyright Laws.' In Canadian law it is incorrect to download a song unless you pay for it. They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads."
I can see that copyright law is clearly a priority for early education. Not grammar, or mathematics, but intellectual property and coporate interests. I guess all the top execs of the tobacco companies jumped ship to the recording industry so they can keep practicing their "hook 'em while they're young" campaigns.
Must. Restrain. Laughter. I think even small children are smart enough to realize that "Captain Copyright" is an idiotic idea. Kids don't respect educational cartoon role models in general; I see no reason why "Captain Copyright" will be any different. A generic super-hero with boring powers whose opponents are ordinary people instead of super-villains ... no one is going to find that interesting.
Philosophy.
...but this comic is lame. Look at this page and the previous one. Somebody gets an A just because they didn't use a bootleg version of the textbook? Give me a break.
There is also another page in the copyright comic that seems to confuse one issue (collaborate research and somebody trying to take all of the credit) with copyright law. The comic ended in a cliffhanger after a few pages, but I don't think this comic book is effective at all (not to mention lame), and the comic confuses issues, too.
Over on Boing Boing, they've noticed that the Captain Copyright web page has stolen a couple of sections from Wikipedia without including the required attributions. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/02/captain_copyr ight_wi.html
But never mind the hypocracy - what kind of teacher uses materials in class that did not come from an independant source? Don't they have pride in their profession? Ahem - won't somebody think of the children?
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
On their website, under "kids" I looked up the meanings of some words and phrases related to copyright. Guess what's missing from the list. I'll give you a hint, it starts with "Fair" and ends with "use"
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Copyright jackasses are marketting their kindergarten-level understanding of intellectual property to actual kindergarteners.
Fuck you. My pony is better than your stupid pony.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
I am in awe that they have a 1 page PDF that takes up 5 megs, and despite it's title that would lead you to believe it contains Canadian Copyright laws, it actually doesn't reference any laws at all! If everyone downloads the PDF even once, we can Slashdot 'em pretty quickly! http://www.captaincopyright.ca/Teachers/Docs/LMCop yrightLaws.pdf
If people put as much energy into reaching their goals as they put into religion, perhaps the reality of their lives would be good enough that they don't need fantasy.
Of course, I don't mean to call your religion fantasy. Yours is the right one, and everyone else in the world worships a fantasy. We both agree on that.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I was never told not to do something simply because it was against god's will. During my confirmation, I asked my preacher why the church had a problem with pornography (in context with the lesson) and he gave me a very logical answer. He didn't punish me for questioning the beliefs of the church, and he didn't answer with "Because god says so." He was trying to help me understand with hopes that I might be a more considerate, caring person when I entered adulthood.
And what hipocrasy do you speak of? I really didn't see much at my church. People interpreted what the bible said into logical advice. It gives perspective to issues people might otherwise struggle with.
I'm not sure what you're next point is supposed to mean.
Yes, their are leaders who use religion to brainwash their followers. There are also leaders who wrap themselves in the American flag and call anyone who disagrees with them unpatriotic. This doesn't mean anyone who considers themself to be patriotic agrees with those leaders. Just because some leaders abuse religion does not mean religion exists solely to control people.
The church I grew up in asks only for enough to keep the church going. The minister leads a very modest lifestyle, and while I saw political discussion at my church, I never saw anyone be told who to vote for.
And my church is not alone. I've known Christians, Jews and Muslims who take advice from their religion, and I mean logical advice, not manipulative propaganda. This can help lead to enlightment, and it's certainly not just saying "it's god's will."
The blatant stereotypes you're spreading are propogated because of what I believe is a loud minority. People like Fred Phelps lead others to believe that all Christians hate homosexuals and non-christians, but this is simply not the case. People like Osama Bin Laden make muslims appear to be bloodthirsty and anti-american. Again, this is generally not the case.
I think religion has a lot to offer the world, and I think it's a pity that it gets abused as often as it does. Personally, I don't go to church because I find it boring. I don't necessarily believe one faith is any more "correct" than another, but I do think religion can be a valuable asset to a person as they mature and grow, and as a result, it can help make the world a better place.
And to think, I read into the comments on this article because I was intrigued by the fact Canadians pay a tax on blank media to help compensate artists.