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Boy Scouts Introduce Merit Badge For Not Pirating
The_Slaughter writes "The MPAA has recruited the boy scouts of America to do their dirty work. Scouts will now be able to learn a merit badge for anti-piracy related activities, including creating public service announcements urging others not to steal movies or music. No word yet on if that includes helping the MPAA file lawsuits against 80-year-old grandmothers."
There's another badge I wouldn't have gotten.
Just like the "Don't Stab Hoboes" badge.
allegiance to the flag of the communist MPAA.
It makes sense since the Boy Scouts of America shares its initials with the Business Software Alliance
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Seriously, how big a threat are Boy Scouts to the content cartels? If they get the boy scouts on their side, who next? 80-year old fundamentalist grandmothers?
They need to start something that'll get the cool kids. Like an anti-piracy gang. Complete with drugrunning and cap-bustin.
Man, you really need that seminar!
Scouts also must choose one activity from a list that includes visiting a movie studio to see how many people can be harmed by film piracy.
I wouldn't worry. When they see the true extent of the "harm" caused by movie and TV piracy, they'll be heading to thepiratebay.org the moment they're near a computer.
Scouts will be instructed in the basics of copyright law and learn how to identify five types of copyrighted works and three ways copyrighted materials may be stolen.
Cool, they'll be teaching them how to do it, too.
Can I get a merit badge for not being a boy scout?
-Grey
Silver Clipboard: Time Management Tips
My Republican oongressman would like the ym nick of any teen scouts having such badges.
We need to get a Pirate Badge ASAP. Given the choice is some kid going to want to "perform a market study of the impact of copyright infringement on the entertainment industry", or learn how to keelhaul properly?
Avast!
Perhaps they should also have a badge for not IM'ing your congressman.
Anybody want a peanut?
How about they create a "Hollywood Accounting" Merit Badge? The scouts can pursue activities like Screwing People Out of Money and Establishing a Distribution Monopoly? Or the "Hollywood Agent" Merit Badge; they can learn about Being A Money-Grubbing, Bloodsucking Parasite?
Insisting on "correct" English is like saying that there is only one, definitive recipe for chili.
From TFA:
Some of this was also quoted in the summary. Now c'mon, we all sometimes respond without reading the article, but to skip the summary??
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
I want to get one of those merit badges for my son, but they cost too much. Does anybody know somewhere I can download one from?
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
I was going to say, I bet the pirates in the scouts will be the first ones earning a merit badge (in an ironic twist).
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
"Are THOSE the people hurt by piracy?"
"Oh, no, Billy, the carpenters are paid whether the film sells or not. They aren't the ones hurt by piracy".
Later they see some writers, smoking cigarettes and muttering under their breath. "Are those the people hurt by piracy"
"Oh, no, Billy. It's kind of complicated, but we actually don't pay them no matter how well the movie does. It's called 'accounting'"
Then they pass a group of actors. "How about them, are THEY hurt by piracy?"
"Oh, no, Billy, they get paid even if the movie flops, no matter how many people pirate it. They're supposed to get extra if it does well, but, well, there's that 'accounting' again"
Billy then points to a director, sitting in a chair. "Is HE the one hurt by piracy"
"Well, you're getting a little closer. He's a little better at 'accounting'. But piracy really doesn't hurt him all that much either"
"Then who IS seriously hurt by piracy?"
"Well, Billy, it's not normally a part of the tour, but just for you, we'll make a special trip."
So Billy and the tour guide go to the studio offices. Up, up they go to the very top floor. The guide takes Billy to a large office with a door. "Billy, if you stand right here and look through the door, do you see the man there"
"Yes"
"That's one of the vice presidents of the studio. Thanks to piracy, he could only buy 3 Porsches last year instead of 5, and had to cut his cocaine habit in half. He can now only maintain one mistress, and she's in her LATE 20s. This studio alone has 30 executives, and they're all similarly suffering. And THAT'S who is hurt by piracy. NOW do you understand why you mustn't pirate movies?"
"Loud and clear," said Billy, "Loud and clear". Billy then went home, told his parents he was quitting the Scouts, and asked if they could get a faster Internet connection
First there's your basic shoplifting.
Second there's the classic breaking and entering.
The third way is a little tricky. You have to forcibly board a boat and seize their copyrighted materials at swordpoint.
Bonus points for recognising which one involves piracy.
I have one of those badges.
I downloaded it.
Olde Joke
Q: Why was Michael Jackson kicked out of the Boy Scouts?
A: He was going through a pack a day.
Trolling is a art,
Given the link in your sig, I'd say you're quite the expert on inanity.
Scouts will still be allowed to sing songs around the campfire during camping trips assuming that all use of music is properly accounted for with performance fees and royalties paid to the RIAA.
Q: When does a Cub Scout become a Boy Scout?
A: After he eats his first Brownie
It just breaks my heart to think you can earn a Space Exploration badge without a minute exposed to hard vaccuum and direct radiaton from the sun.
I had an Eagle Scout friend growing up and some of the badges he went for actually seemed rather hard to get...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
a. What is a copyright?
b. Why do copyrights matter?
c. Identify five types of copyrighted works (two may be your own). For each, give the author/creator and the date the work was copyrighted.
d. Name three ways copyrighted materials may be stolen. Visit a video sharing network or peer to peer website and identify which materials are copyrighted and which aren't. Ok, I am done. Now give me my Badge!