MPAA targets boy scouts with anti-piracy campaign

MPAA targets boy scouts with anti-piracy campaign
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has issued a press release announcing its latest battleplan in its war on movie piracy. The trade group will team up with Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts of America to educate some 52,000 young scouts about the value of copyrights in an attempt to change attitudes towards theft of intellectual property.

"One of the most important tools we have to fight piracy is education and I commend the Los Angeles area Boy Scouts for working with us to help raise awareness about piracy among their troops in Los Angeles," said MPAA CEO & Chairman Dan Glickman. "The film industry is a major contributor to the Los Angeles economy and as such, it is important to protect the economic vitality film brings to L.A. and the state of California. Working with the Boy Scouts of Los Angeles, we have a real opportunity to educate a new generation about how movies are made, why they are valuable, and hopefully change attitudes about intellectual property theft."



MPAA has already formed a curriculum with the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts that met the approval of troop leaders in the greater Los Angeles area earlier this year. The idea of the curriculum is to teach participants about copyright theft and various forms of piracy, how to spot counterfeit CDs/DVDs, the consequences of film and music piracy, and also why protecting copyrights is important to them and the local economy.

Troops will choose from a number of activities in order to earn a "Respect Copyrights" patch. Activities will include, amongst others, creating a public service announcement demonstrating the importance of copyright protection or visiting a movie studio to learn about the people, time and costs involved in creating a movie.

Victor Zuniga, Los Angeles Area Council Public Relations Director for the Boy Scouts of America said, "We are excited to work with the MPAA to provide this new educational opportunity to our more than 52,000 young people who participate in our programs.

"The Respect Copyrights patch is a fun way for young kids to learn more about the what goes into making movies while garnering a deep appreciation for creative works and the importance of copyright protection,"
he added.

Source:
Press Release, www.mpaa.org


Written by: Ben Reid @ 21 Oct 2006 6:34
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  • 45 comments
  • anubis66

    wow is this ever discraceful.. maybe they shouldnt stranglehold their copyrights and cd's to the point people feeling like infringing.

    21.10.2006 07:27 #1

  • gogochar

    The more people become aware of what they can't do, the bigger the threat to the MPAA (and possibly the RIAA)!

    21.10.2006 09:14 #2

  • anubis66

    yeah, im sure many of these kids didnt know how to do this, but once they earn that badge will say "omg they showed us its so easy lets do it!"

    21.10.2006 09:15 #3

  • ofolion

    age old tactics: get 'em whilst their young...

    21.10.2006 09:35 #4

  • pulsar

    Hitler had similar a idea, they were called the brownshirts or Hitler youth. They programmed the youngsters with propoganda, much the same as the RIAA is doing here......

    21.10.2006 10:16 #5

  • pieman

    Sounds like child molestation to me.Tossers.

    21.10.2006 11:31 #6

  • georgeluv

    even as a yung lad i could spot a media monopoly a mile away. sorry MPAA, but if one of my peers came up to me when i was a wee boy scout and told me copywrite infringement is wrong id ask him if he thought the wealth of a few people outweighed the social progress of the entire earth. i wonder if you get to analize unfair business practices or how to be a good citicen of the world for that patch.

    "The film industry is a major contributor to the Los Angeles economy and as such, it is important to protect the economic vitality film brings to L.A. and the state of California.

    yeh thats why almost every major movie made these days is shot in toranto!!! the film industry doesnt give a rats ass about L.A.s economy.

    i realy want that patch though...

    21.10.2006 11:36 #7

  • homedog

    Those morons don't know who there dealling with. Piracy will rise do to this BS...

    21.10.2006 12:23 #8

  • bugguy

    As an Eagle Scout myself, I am extremely disappointed with this idea. This is basically going to make the BSA a policing organization. How sad is this!?!?! The MPAA can't fight their own battles, so let's take a buch of kids and make them our rats. NICE!! MPAA...Go sit on a spike and spin, you bastards!

    21.10.2006 12:44 #9

  • Ragnarok8

    Those who are already pirating stuff will not stop because of this.

    Those who are not yet pirating stuff, will realize what they can do (easily I might add) and take it up.

    21.10.2006 13:10 #10

  • ZippyDSM

    Just wait till they get to the girl scouts a box in ever home with bugs and sensors to spy on the common folk so the corporations can sleep with more money at night 0_o

    21.10.2006 15:49 #11

  • Chris1000

    Quite true. Once they find out how easy it is to do this and the MINISCULE chance of getting caught, they are going to do it.

    The MPAA and RIAA would be better to STOP TALKING ABOUT PIRACY, it's just giving information to people who usually would not infringe copyrights to say "This stuff is out there for free! WTF am I paying for it!?"

    21.10.2006 18:23 #12

  • Auslander

    i was a boy scout. i quit, after 10 years, for a reason, and it wasn't my age. they are going down the drain all across the nation, and the MPAA being able to dig in like this just goes to show it. screw both of'em.

    21.10.2006 23:34 #13

  • rockjckey

    Whazup with the scouts anyway? Now the girlz are being taught about online preditors and sexual harrassment in the workplace? What happend to nature walks and sewing and cooking and teamwork and relationships and selling cookies? That's what the scouts are supposed to be about.

    22.10.2006 00:12 #14

  • ZippyDSM

    rockjckey
    Common sense class's would so everyone better....sexual harassment class minus common sense= people getting sued for no reason.

    22.10.2006 00:42 #15

  • SLaTheR

    Coming soon to a neighborhood near you:

    Nuns walking the streets with anti piracy flags?
    Postmen looking in your windows? (oops already have that).
    Priests calling for you to stop downloading from the pulpit. (It's a NEW breed of sin, the bible tells us so in lavit chapter whatever:whatever.)

    As long as they keep up these tactics they are going to continue losing. Bad movies filmed for direct DVD release, (nobody would pay in the theater, so just sell it to them for 15 bucks) purposely bad tracks on CD's, just so they can release the good stuff on next album. All at premium pricing.

    This is just another disgraceful and desperate attempt to hold on to a monopoly that shouldn't even exist to begin with.


    22.10.2006 04:20 #16

  • craftyzan

    No kids are allowed in my house. Another reason for this policy!!!

    Sandy

    22.10.2006 07:40 #17

  • mm2000y

    To be fair to the MPAA, I believe it was the Boy Scout leaders in LA who brought up this idea to the MPAA to get some more income for their troops. The MPAA went along with it of course, but the real shame of it all belongs to the Los Angeles Area Council Public Relations Director for the Boy Scouts of America. It's all about the money.

    22.10.2006 08:06 #18

  • Steve83

    Does anyone have a hi-res scan of that patch? I wanna start producing & selling them myself. :-D

    22.10.2006 08:24 #19

  • alphabit

    A "Respect Copyrights" patch OMG, and "The Respect Copyrights patch is a fun way for young kids to learn more about the what goes into making movies while garnering a deep appreciation for creative works and the importance of copyright protection," The MPAA has struck another All-Time low ,using children.Dont they know(MPAA and the RIAA) the more you tell people they cant,the more people want to prove they can. I hope those bright young kids realize they dont have to save their allowance to buy their favorite movie.They can just make a copy and have it for free.If the MPAA didnt just wake them up, it ought to be a "piracy" patch. Next they will be sueing them. Maybe the "Boy Scouts of America " should sue the MPAA for that movie "The last Boy Scout".Since I dought they gave any money to the scouts for using the words "Boy Scout".The ones most worried about being ripped off are the ones doing the ripping off.

    22.10.2006 08:43 #20

  • jziman

    Such a sad day. Glad I was never in the scouts.

    22.10.2006 09:02 #21

  • anubis66

    i as at a younger age, probably only 3rd and 4th grade. it was fun then, but its discraceful these days.. we made plaster handprints, played video game, went camping, learned social skills or other skills.

    22.10.2006 10:08 #22

  • Mez

    Personally I would love to go to a meeting. I would love to see how the fleecing of America preserves our democracy. Even though my work is protected by copyright laws I am sure 100 years is way too much for a copyright. It is not like an invention which normally orders of magnitude more work. They are only good for 17 years.

    22.10.2006 17:42 #23

  • jmaestro

    To build on Mez's comments:

    While copyright theft is legally wrong, is not ethically or morally wrong. This is because the fair use laws are built around a arbitrary number (like 100 years) upon which you can bypass the copyright. If it was morally wrong then fair use laws shouldn't exist.

    If a bike has been in my family for 100 years, it wouldn't be okay for someone to steal it now. This makes me think that copyright law is just a manufactured etical premise.

    22.10.2006 19:07 #24

  • ChiliDogs

    Maybe some of these folks who spy on your computer should be hauled into court under the Secrecy of Communications Act of 1933. Every tracking ad, spyware program and sharing of information falls under that federal law. You cannot reveal anything you discover from someones private communication or papers (if their movies and songs are protected, so is the information on your computer, and breaking into it is the same as your mailbox or phone line). If they would just respect your basic right under the Fair Use Law and put a fair price on a movie, people would not feel a need to steal (as they call it) their product. Using the UN to trick countries into passing these laws to conform to a tready, no matter what their constitution guarantees makes most people less likely to feel any opligation to them. I want them to make a fair profit on their product. I would still like to enjoy their movies and music but still be able to feed the kids. I don't download movies or music. The illegal virus' on those sites are more trouble than the music or movies are worth. Maybe folks should just boycott the industry for a few months and let the loss in profit speak for itself.

    23.10.2006 00:32 #25

  • ZippyDSM

    ChiliDogs
    if the goverment did its job and protected people from its own stupidity and against corparte greed mabye...

    23.10.2006 01:12 #26

  • Mez

    First I feel ethically compelled to defend scouting. Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts do tend to round a child out. Scouts are better equipted to be successful than a non scout. Boy Scouts agerage 30% more pay than an average wage earner. I am sure some of that is demographics.

    The core beliefs of scouting are timeless. Having confidence in your self, communications skills and building team work skills are always useful.

    My daughter is a 'sissy girl' and would never think of doing something risky or adventurous. In scouting she has rock climbed and repelled, caved and white water rafted. I believe scouting have given her more confidence in herself.

    I would never be classified as a 'goodie-two-shoes'. I am pro-scouts because as a parent I can see what 10 years of scouts has done to a bunch of very naughty boys. I am convinced our resources were not wasted and that they will have an easier time as an adult.

    Scouting is run by persons. They flavor scouting with their own beliefs for better or worse. I am certain the BS adults that came up with the anti-piracy campain fully believe in what they stand for. As a parent I recomend parents shop around for a scout group that shares your beliefs.

    23.10.2006 03:36 #27

  • Mez

    Copyrights have nothing to do with ethics. Copyrights mimicked the patent laws which do serve an important purpose. They allow for the dissemination of technology. Archeologists uncovered what appears to be a battery in the ruins of ancient Egyptian temple. I guess the priests were able to make their own lighting or used the electricity to impress the public in some other way. Before the advent of patents, technology was always secret. Everyone kept inventions secret and may have been passed on to a son but rarely to someone other than a son or son in law.

    England protected inventions by a patent. The idea was that protected technology would never die with the inventor. The invention was protected for a century. That meant the inventor and his son would be protected and they could license their invention and become much wealthier than if they kept the invention to their selves.

    Companies did not like paying all the royalties and petitioned the government to reduce the protection period. In the US the protection period is 17 years.

    Copyrights do allow a company who produces a movie to profit from their work. If there were no copyrights there would be no incentive put millions into making a movie. However, 100 years is obscene!

    23.10.2006 04:03 #28

  • Mez

    When you set up for P2P you volinteer to share some 'stuff' with hte rest of the world. The spys are only looking at that information. I am hard pressed to see how looking at what you are sharing violates any law.

    Spyware is a different story. Because spyware, like the copyright laws, adversly effect the public and not a group that will hire lobbiests, the govenment could care less.

    23.10.2006 04:15 #29

  • ZippyDSM

    Mez
    So is more than 2 years for a politician *L*
    Music like daippers they need to be changed regularly LOL

    anyway I could see a CP lasting maybe 25 years and then coprerations can fight over re newing the CP if they can show they are puting money into complete distribution and such of the works (new dvd release's,TV cindecatin and such),sitting on a CP and doing nothing with it is quite frustrating Take Disney for example it bought out saban years back and will not release Samurai Pizza Cats on DVD they are just letting ti rot away,and many corporate devs have laid claim to game series and they never made or had anything to do with the game fck the creators and the staff that amde it we own it now and will will make sure the game never be good again!

    23.10.2006 04:17 #30

  • gtnheimer

    Big Brother is training more troops!!! Run for the hills!!! (but don't forget your laptop)

    23.10.2006 11:59 #31

  • rosedog

    Sounds like Hitlers (or whatever name you want to insert) little brown shirts will be hard at work reporting their parents and sibilings.

    I can see it now "I report piracy" badges.

    23.10.2006 12:34 #32

  • bzboarder

    i doubt that anyone will be reporting anything. nor will this badge do something. from what i remember of my 8 years in the scouts is most people are there because theyre forced by their parents. with all the fire safety training and badge, ive never encountered a group with more pyros in it. with all the knife safety requirements, ive never encountered a group where the people play with knives as recklessly as the scouts. and im sure now with this, there will be even more pirates.

    23.10.2006 14:13 #33

  • ZippyDSM

    bzboarder
    hehe the scout's are organized chaos :3

    23.10.2006 14:22 #34

  • rosedog

    Quote:
    bzboarder (Member) 23. October 2006 @ 18:13
    i doubt that anyone will be reporting anything. nor will this badge do something. from what i remember of my 8 years in the scouts is most people are there because theyre forced by their parents. with all the fire safety training and badge, ive never encountered a group with more pyros in it. with all the knife safety requirements, ive never encountered a group where the people play with knives as recklessly as the scouts. and im sure now with this, there will be even more pirates.
    just saying...I'm sure the RIAA/MPAA will sponsor it happily.

    23.10.2006 14:33 #35

  • Kosav15

    Obey the MPAA, hail the MPAA, the MPAA is master. We must destroy all pirates, destroy all pirates.

    Is it the work of Hitler, or some cult leader, no it's the L.A boyscouts.

    Either the MPAA will create a generation of brainwashed zombies that blindly fling their money to the movie industry, or it will backfire and create more pirates which will then give the MPAA more people to sue and steal money from in court. Either way the MPAA wins. Anything for that extra dollar.

    23.10.2006 16:47 #36

  • louispq

    It won't be communism but capitalism itself. This starts to sound like the SPIES in the book 1984 "big brother", which was groups of kids like the scouts, but they where thaugt how to spy on others and report them to the authorities

    Creepy

    24.10.2006 12:19 #37

  • ZippyDSM

    Kosav15
    most of the US has removed tag football and tag from school grounds because kids might hurt them selfs...its not the MPAA turning them into the undead...they are merely using the inhuman recourses before them to the fullest...

    24.10.2006 12:40 #38

  • Kosav15

    True, the MPAA doesn't create the problem they just take advantage of it. The legal system can't keep up with the way people today are learning to manipulate it. It almost seems to encourage greed and stupidity. Someone can sue McDonalds for burning themselves on their coffee, or sue the school because their kids hurt themselves playing football, just because that person is too dimwitted to realize that coffee is hot or that sports can be dangerous. Or a giant company can stomp all over the individual consumers to "protect their artist's works", just so they can add a few bucks to their already massive profits. A legal system that allows that is not bringing about justice anymore, all it's doing is providing a legally backed form of theft. Now I don't have a solution to this problem, I doubt that there is one; any system will have its weaknesses. But, I know it would certainly help if these organizations like the MPAA would quit taking advantage of it for their own selfish gain.

    24.10.2006 18:13 #39

  • sule8

    i spammed.

    i'm now immortalised here - http://sule8.justgotowned.com

    24.10.2006 19:38 #40

  • TazmanYo

    My Parents taught me to share. The past 40 years, the world has been taught to copy. VCRs, Radios with cassette recorders, Etc... That's why commercials are so important. Tv is free, radio is free. You're not forced to buy anything on the commercials. So I feel that if you have spent money on the equipment necessary to back up your old movies or songs. Then you have already paid for your right. If they had their way, you wouldn't be able to have friends over for a movie night without getting permission from the MPAA. Where have our freedoms gone? Pirating for distribution is wrong, but for back ups or longevity... is just common sense.

    27.10.2006 10:33 #41

  • TazmanYo

    To Kosav15
    You need to check your facts. McDonalds passed a coffee thru the window of a car to a person. The coffee was so hot that the wax bottom melted and gave the driver 2nd degree burns thru her clothing in her lap. Suing was the right answer.

    27.10.2006 10:35 #42

  • SLaTheR

    Hahahahaha

    I believe that the melting cup was never proven. In fact the cup manufacturer said that it would have happened immediately upon pouring, not after the extended period of time it would take between pouring, covering, transporting and FINALLY finding it's way into the customers hand.

    That same type of lawsuit was thrown out of a British court immediately.

    A little off topic, but that McDonald lawsuit was one of the worst abuses of the courts in recent memory. That is if you don't count the burglers who sue when they get hurt on their victims property while breaking in that is.

    The RIAA and the MPAA are clearly monopoly type organizations, and as such should be investigated and broken up into their seperate entities. If they represent all the major labels, then they should not be allowed to exist. They are also Lobbying groups at their absolute worst. Outright buying politicians in order to get favorable laws passed for their own profiteering.

    I no longer buy CD's (very few bands put out anything worthwhile anyway anymore. I do not go to movies, but I do rent alot, purchase the ones I like after they are cut in price. Then i back them up for longevity purpose. I guess I am a felon in the eyes of the MPAA.

    29.10.2006 14:34 #43

  • TazmanYo

    apples and oranges

    The buglary lawsuit is completely different and idiotic and should never get near a courtroom. But if I were a drive thru customer and hot coffee burned me thru no fault of mine. I would sue as well. And it does take a few min to melt the bottom. My friend and I did an experiment with a wax bottom pressed in cup. So I believe 100% that the coffee had to be very very hot to melt thru and leave burns. Suing the company for using obviously stupid practices like boiling coffee in wax paper cups... is the only way to create change for the better. I was tired of drinking melted wax anyway.

    30.10.2006 06:55 #44

  • Thonor

    Just to go COMPLETELY off topic, here' more info on the coffee scam (er...lawsuit)

    Check out this website for the full synopsis:

    http://www.stellaawards.com/

    That case is the largest can of crap ever. Notice how all big awards are made by jury. In Mississippi, it was noted recently that large corporations are moving their offices out of that state because juries have reputations now of awarding millions for any little thing.

    While I'd love to see that go the RIAA / MPAA's way, it's abuse of the system, and it's not something to be encouraged.

    30.10.2006 12:00 #45

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