Anti-Piracy Badge
This badge would be much better.
I’ve been reading a book called “The Scout’s Companion”. It’s a book that contains lots and lots of facts about Scouting. Some facts you probably already know, some you’ll find useful (such as how to cook an egg in a potato) and some are just crazy. It’s a brilliant book – buy it here!
The other day I found something in the book that made me laugh, but also made me slightly annoyed at the same time. Here’s an extract:
“Pirate Patrol”
If you’ve ever been tempted to download some freebies from Napster or Limewire watch out that you don’t do it with an LA Boy Scout in the room – they might report you in the name of a new badge launched in 2006. Launched by the Motion Picture Association of America and the Los Angeles Boy Scouts, the anti-piracy badge – officially named the Respect Copyrights patch – has been designed to help raise awareness about respecting copyrights and change attitudes towards intellectual property theft. For those young Scouts who don’t include the phrase “intellectual property” in their everyday slang, it refers to the concept that “ideas” are valuable, they can be owned and protected from other people stealing them by copyrighting, trademarking or patenting. The badge aims to teach kids how to identify counterfeit CDs ad DVDs, the consequences of film and music piracy and that protecting them is important to their local economy. If the scheme is a success it will be launched to other scouts between 6 and 21 years old throughout California and the rest of America, although a closer look at the ‘acquired’ playlists of some Scouts’ iPods might open a whole new can of worms.
I did a bit of research on the badge from other sources and found the curriculum here.
To me this badge seems more like propaganda than an achievement and I don’t think it should have a place in Scouting. Scouts should want to do their best to help make the world a better place, and I don’t see how this fits in. The curriculum doesn’t even give a complete picture of the “issue”. Consider these points:
- Would the people actually buy the content in the first place?
When the industry spits out the figures, it doesn’t take into account the fact that a lot of people wouldn’t be interested in buying the product anyway. When this is the case, there aren’t any losses to profits at all - Could it lead to more customers?
Many people will listen to a song on the radio (for free), realise they like it, and buy the album or single. This could also happen with filesharing – many people have a “try before you buy” attitude and choose to pay for content if they like it. Could filesharing be used as free advertising? - Is it actually killing the industry?
Way before my time, people were scared radio would kill the music industry. But it didn’t. Then they were scared home cassette taping would kill the industry. But that didn’t either. Nor did video cassettes kill cinema. Could the fear of file sharing be yet another false alarm? - And finally, does the industry actually care about people getting hurt, or do they just care about making huge profits?
So when you’ve had a think about the argument, please leave a comment! I’d love to hear your opinion on the matter.
Klinc said,
April 7, 2010 @ 1:21 am
OMG WTH?! >.<
LottaN said,
April 7, 2010 @ 10:29 am
Interesting isn’t it? Downloading will redefine the industry in a way that none of the other mentioned methods of reproduction did, and wether it’ll come out better or worse is yet to be seen. What slightly worries me is that we might be coming back into a mecenat system as in the very olden days where artists had to be very politically correct to stand a chance of having success as they were being sponsored by the wealthy and powerful rather than living off the profits of their artwork. The thought scares me, as it feels a wee bit closer to a 1984 scenario than comfortable. I for one do not wish that the music industry mainmen eat a too large bit of the cake – but artists must live and expenses for production and PR must be paid……
In scouting the issue is very interesting in many respects. In the new material we’ve been writing I included a discussion question about just that in the chapter about the scout’s honour: Is it ok for a scout to download copyrighted material?
It’s against the law, but everybody does it… Is the law a politically correct product of skillful lobbying or a justified law? Depends on who you’re listening to.
About the Anti-pirating badge I think it’s awful! Brings to mind, again 1984, and in non-fiction, the not so very long ago (well before both yours and my time) the McCarthy trails in the States where a lot of very talented people, and even more ordinary people, had their life and livelihood destroyed because of the witch hunt like terror of the communist threat in the wake of WWII. Yes, a scout should be obedient to the law and set a good example, but should also be a critical thinker and a friend to be relied on! What’s next? A “spot-the-terrorist-looking-neigbour”-badge? Or the “A-freind’s-parent-looks-at-me-funny” badge?
Nick Wood said,
April 8, 2010 @ 12:25 pm
Urgh! What a horrible idea for a badge! What this has to do with Scouting, the outdoors etc. is beyond me.
The trouble is the film and music industries have too high an opinion of themselves and believe they are always right and their customers are wrong!
Taping music off the radio and copying records and CDs onto tape (oops showing my age now!), never stopped me buying stuff. Indeed, I’d often copy something and when I could afford it I’d buy it. To be honest, last year when the remastered Beatles albums came out, I downloaded them as I wanted to hear how different they were (very good they are too). However, I’ve since bought them all. There is a survey somewhere that says that people who illegally download music or films actually spend more money on these products than people who don’t!
What needs to happen is that the ‘industry’ has to listen to its consumers and not just try to get through the rather ill thought out Digital Bill that has just been forced through Parliament!
Adam Saeid said,
April 8, 2010 @ 12:43 pm
I’m suprised they put the digital economy bill through without a proper debate.
They shouldn’t have to right to take away your interent (for everybody in the house), especially if it’s only when you’re accused of copyright infringement.
The internet is doing what it was intentionally made for – the flow of information between peers. This technology is changing the world and the corporations need to adapt, instead of trying to run the government – that isn’t their job.
I watched a very good documentary the other day called “Steal This Film”. I reccomend watching it!