More Propaganda: MPAA’s Respecting Copyright “Merit Patch” for Scouts

LA’s Boy Scout Council has teamed with the MPAA to offer Scouts a patch for learning just how much it costs to make a film and how many people get hurt if you download it without paying. Really, take a look. Notice that the concepts of fair use and public domain are completely absent from the fair and balanced text written by the MPAA.

Scouts complete the requirements to earn the hideous award patch pictured here. The program directs readers to learn about the Parent File Scan program throught the MPAA’s website. This program builds a list of media files on a computer, as well as programs that could be used to download files. Deciding if these files are legal or not is up to the user. The same page presents a link to Report Piracy, which though not a stated goal of the program, is certainly on this program’s clickpath.

When I was a Scout, we incinerated stuff with Coleman fuel, told scary (or mildly lurid) stories, and tied stuff up with rope–lots of rope.  I can only imagine which Scouts select copyright respect as their merit patch of choice.

Comments are closed.