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Nonprofit Group Sends Filesharing Propaganda To Students

Posted by Soulskill on from the comics-without-comedy dept.

palegray.net writes "The National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit organization, has sent file-sharing propaganda to thousands of students. The supposedly 'educational' materials, presented in the form of a comic strip, are intended to frighten students with gross exaggerations of the legal consequences of sharing music online (lose your scholarship to college, go to jail for two years, and more). From the article: '"The Case of Internet Piracy," however, reads like the Recording Industry Association of America's public relations playbook: Download some songs, go to jail and lose your scholarship. Along the way, musicians will file onto the bread lines. "The purpose is basically to educate kids — middle school and high school-aged about how the justice system operates and about what really goes on in the courtroom as opposed to what you see on television," said Lorri Montgomery, the center's communications director.' I'm not encouraging anyone to break any laws, but this is ridiculous. What's truly discouraging is the fact that several judges appear to be in full support of this sort of 'education.' The propaganda material is available in PDF form, and it lists the judges and others involved in its creation. Wired's post has a summary of the story (which is good, since the story is awful), and Techdirt notes a couple of the legal inaccuracies.

7 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Courts are Public by xstonedogx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Take the kids to a court if you want them educated about how courts work.

  2. Puts me in mind of something by ThanatosMinor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is anyone else reminded of Chick tracts? Share files and you go to hell...

  3. Re:Best coverage on p2pnet.net by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shill. Fifty bucks says Ray is dead on.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  4. this is the reefer madness of filesharing by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Insightful

    this propaganda is wonderful!

    please, please, anyone who supports filesharing rights, do not stop the spread of this propaganda, it is guaranteed to backfire

    your average college student can spot a bully and a bully's rationale. if this is their argument: do what we want or we'll hurt you, your average college kid can see the obvious moral bankruptcy in that, they will see right through this, and even better than that, if this is the best argument the RIAA's puppet organization can make, everyone can see the RIAA has no more argument at all

    please folks, let them proclaim the hollowness and pointlessness of their dead end effort with this propaganda. college kids are receptive, they are listening, and they can smell bullshit. so this propaganda is GOOD for filesharing rights as it is a guaranteed backfire

    i swear, it's reefer madness for file sharing

    Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children) is a 1936 exploitation film revolving around the tragic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marihuana": a hit and run accident, manslaughter, suicide, rape, and descent into madness all ensue. The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown bit actors. It was originally financed by a church group and made under the title Tell Your Children.[1][2]

    The film was intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use.[1] However, soon after the film was shot, it was purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who re-cut the film for distribution on the exploitation film circuit.[1] The film never gained an audience until it was rediscovered in the 1970s and gained new life as a piece of unintentional comedy among cannabis smokers.[1][3] Today, it is in the public domain in the United States and is considered a cult film.[3] It inspired a musical satire, which premiered off-Broadway in 2001, and a Showtime film, Reefer Madness, based on the musical.

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  5. Don't-Don't-Don't Copy That Floppy! by Perseid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really. When you have to resort to outright lies to protect your business model, doesn't that tell you something about said business model?

    1. Re:Don't-Don't-Don't Copy That Floppy! by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really. When you have to resort to outright lies to protect your business model, doesn't that tell you something about said business model?

      Yes. It tells you that said business model is highly profitable.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  6. Time we hit Hollywood with a Digital Tea Party by CuteSteveJobs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here we see Hollywood studios regularly rob, cheat and steal from the people that work for them:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2001/aug/31/artsfeatures

    Here companies like News Limited trick the public into surrendering their copyright, giving them massive royalty-free photo libraries, all for the "chance of winning an iPod".
    http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2008/07/read_the_fine_print.html

    Orson Scott Card wrote this good piece on the hipocracy of the RIAA:
    http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-07-1.html
    http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-14-1.html

    And for years, we the public have had our rights progressively eroded. Well-monied rights holders throw money at congress who turn around and keep extending their copyright. This reached an artform in the "Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act", otherwise known as the "Mickey Mouse Copyright Act". Yet Disney has quite happily argued against this when it suits them.
    http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,17327,00.html

    Well, eat this Disney: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mickey22-2008aug22,0,3228580,full.story

    And then there was that DRM debacle... What's worst is countries like Australia spinelessly accepted the DRM laws as their own (and US patents being enforcable in Australia) all for a political photo opportunity with George W. Bush. In this way, these execessive new laws are spreading all over the world. And here we have Universities teaching one side of the Great Copyright Rights Grab. Why aren't they educating their students about both sides, instead of brainfeeding them RIAA propaganda?

    Bottom line is: Congress doesn't work for you. It works for these guys. I don't see Congress ever saying no to MPAA slush funds, and treating IP the way the Constitution intended it too. So to hell with Congress and the MPAAFIA: Stupid Laws are made to be broken. I say torrent freely and torrent often. It's our very own digital tea party.