MPAA Begins Project To Brainwash School Children
from the nice-try dept
Last month, we mentioned the scary news that one of the MPAA's latest tactics against file sharing was to create an entire educational program which they would present in schools. Well, that program launched yesterday in schools across the country, and they're not even remotely subtle in how one-sided they paint the picture. For example, they tell students "If you haven't paid for it, you've stolen it." Except, well, that's not true at all. If, for example, the MP3s were placed up there by those who do own the rights to the music, then it's perfectly legal. Even if it's music that hasn't been put up their by those who own the rights, it's copyright infringement (and you may have some fair use rights) and not theft. Wendy Seltzer at the EFF goes through a few other problems with the "educational" program. Plenty of people are upset about this. Some with the one-sided content, and others with the fact that students are being bribed with incentives such as free DVDs, DVD players, movie tickets and trips to Hollywood (um... I thought if they hadn't paid for it, they had stolen it...) for writing essays about why file sharing is bad. Of course, in the end, this might not be such a big deal, as many of the students who get this lesson will realize how ridiculous it is. The article linked above reviews one presenter giving the lesson in San Francisco where students roll their eyes and challenge many of the statements made. Just in titling it "What's the Diff? A Guide to Digital Citizenship", (their weak attempt at sounding on top of the latest jargon) most kids will immediately see through this as a ridiculous corporate front.
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Dumb and Dumber?
The only thing I have to worry about is that they may actually try to give this crap to California Schools, because with the current budget and layoffs for teachers, administrators, etc., it isn't likely any school district in California will likely have the money to buy this crap.
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Re: Dumb and Dumber?
* Kary is developing promotional materials for her club's annual charity walk for children. Kary decides to download pictures from the Internet to use on her poster....
Fair Use??? Oh, yeah, according to the MPAA, fair use is only a defense, and thus doesn't exist. What about pictures downloaded from a free or public domain source. What if she includes an attribution?
You did all the work on your team project, but others got all the credit?
You live with it... It will happen all through your life, especially when you work for a boss who asks you to do something and then takes your work and uses it to prove that they are worth keeping. Oh, I got a better one, what if you write a song and send it to a music company, and they steal it and sell it without giving you a dime...
Your friend wrote a song and sent it to a music company. A rock group recorded it, but your friend was never paid for the song.
Damn...they're good. But I figure the answer to this one is "tough kids, we own all music, and you are lucky we didn't charge you with copyright infringement when you sent us the music in the first place. We have better lawyers, and will unleash them on you if you don't go away." How many musicians get $0.02 of the $18.00 their music sells for? I'll happily send my $15.00 per CD to the indies because I know $13.00 of the $15.00 is going to the artist.)
Simon lost his wallet. A friend found it, but decided to keep it.
So what does this have to do with copyright infringement? The store doesn't loose a CD when someone illegally copies it, they just loose a sale (and even this is debateable.)
Jane copied her friend Sally's answers during a math test.
I can do this too: Is Sally to blame for allowing Jane to copy the answers?
Sam found John's homework, put his name it [SIC] and turned it in. Now, John is in trouble for not doing his homework.
Ahhhh, poor John. You know, I've not, in my many years of school, actually seen this happen. However, I figure that if Sam turned in John's homework, the teacher could probably figure it out. After all, Sam has never turned in his homework, and John is damn regular at turning in his...
etc...etc...etc...this drivel goes on and on.
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No Subject Given
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No Subject Given
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Hmmm... where have I heard this before?
Billed as the kind of program that you resort to when nothing else seems to work. Sort of like trying to fix a severed limb with a bandaid.
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vnk
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If it was aimed at the posters above, whats the bet that you could trace vnk's IP back to the MPAA's HQ
As a weird site note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantes_Inferno
Which circle of hell do MPAA staff go to?
The third circle is for gluttons
Fourth Circle. Those whose concern for material goods deviated from the desired mean are punished in this circle. They include the avaricious or miserly, who hoarded possessions.
Fifth Circle is for the wrathful / slothful
Seventh Circle, Outer ring, housing the violent against people and property.
Seventh Circle, Inner ring: for those violent against art!
Eighth Circle. The fraudulent—those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil
Ninth Circle. Traitors, distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying one in a special relationship to the betrayer
Maybe they take short vacations between the various circles depending on their current mood?
Then again we have the terraces of Purgatory:
First Terrace: The proud get weighed down by huge boulders on their backs!
Second Terrace: the envious!
Third terrace: The wrathful
Fifth: The avaricious
Sixth: The gluttonous
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All those links, dead ended by myopia
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Wild.
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