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Boy Scouts and Anti-Piracy

I had to comment on this bit of news that I came across today. The Boy Scouts of America (a little background here) has struck up a relationship with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) so that boy scouts can earn a patch in anti-piracy (press release here). That's right - little Johnny can be recognized as a good citizen for not ripping CD's and DVD's to his heart's content. And if he's real good and makes the grade, the MPAA will give him a tour of a real-live movie studio! Hip, hip, hooray kids!

Now before boys across the land get too excited about this one, it is only Los Angeles-area boy scouts who will get the chance to visit the movie studio, although all lads across the land can work to sport this 21st century badge of honor. As with all Boy Scout badges, there is some effort required to earn it; in this case, a boy needs to either create some sort of propaganda extolling the virtues of copyright or go online to uncover pirated content to share back with the troop leader.

It appears that the MPAA has found its policing efforts returning no results, so what do they do? Hire the whole of the Boy Scouts, of course! And all they need to pay is the holiest of currencies - the Boy Scout badge. I just hope it is copyrighted, lest those wily Boy Scouts go out and start pirating those badges too!

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