Corrupting the Scouts

LOS ANGELES — A Boy Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, etc., etc. He is also respectful of copyrights. Boy Scouts in the Los Angeles area will now be able to earn an activity patch for learning about the evils of downloading pirated movies and music. The patch shows a film reel, a music CD and the international copyright symbol, a “C” enclosed in a circle.

As per this article. Why is this bad?

Because I don’t trust a lobby group to give straight facts about an issue over which they have deep interests. This doesn’t have to do with what’s right and what’s wrong, this has to do with the promotion of a narrow viewpoint on a very diverse subject.

I mean if Scouts of America are letting the MPAA do this, they might as well have badges for scouts to promote the viewpoints of the cigarette lobbyists, the gun lobbyists, etc. I just don’t think that a lobbyists, who are by definition pro-something-or-rather, give a balanced viewpoint.

Scouts will be instructed in the basics of copyright law and learn how to identify five types of copyrighted works and three ways copyrighted materials may be stolen.

Scouts also must choose one activity from a list that includes visiting a movie studio to see how many people can be harmed by film piracy. They also can create public service announcements urging others not to steal movies or music.

Look at that curriculum! I mean this isn’t about teaching kids copyrights, it’s about brainwashing them. What is copyright? Well, it’s the protection of intellectual property. Last I checked, that was a topic that was about a great deal more than just piracy. If they wanted to teach piracy as part of the curriculum: great. It deserves to be there. However, if they want to make piracy %100 of the curriculum, then we have a serious problem on our hands folks.

This is exactly why lobbyists should not be allowed to pull off this kind of activity.