In a move that can be described as either truly genius or truly bizarre, the Associated Press reported  that the Motion Picture Association of America has developed a curriculum to teach the Boy Scouts of America about the necessity of entertainment copyright law and the ill-effects of pirating movies. Scouts receive a merit badge after completing the program, which includes learning the fundamentals of copyright law, how to identify copyrighted works and understanding how copyright law can be violated. The curriculum also requires them to either visit a movie studio to meet the people hurt by film piracy or create a PSA which encourages others not to pirate entertainment.

Earlier this month, a Techdirt post discredited the MPAA report that piracy cost the industry $20.5 billion, calling their stastistics "bogus." Blogger Tim Lee of the Technology Liberation Front pointed out flaws in the study in a post linked by Techdirt.

No word yet on whether or not the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Public Knowledge have finished designing their own curriculum and merit badges.

| Trackback URL |