MPAA Boy Scout spies
p2pnet news view | Kids & Kartels:- The story that a) in Hong Kong, the entertainment cartels have corrupted one of the most important youth organizations in the world, the Scouting movement; and b), that Hollywood is using children to act as unpaid, unsupervised online copyright spies, has finally been picked up by the mainstream media.
But, ““Christine Loh, the chief executive of Civic Exchange, a policy research group, said the government program would have to be managed with particular care because of its faint echoes of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, when children were encouraged to inform on their parents and other relatives,” says The New York Times.
More than a year ago we first reported that Hollywood had, “scammed the Hong Kong Scout Association into dishing out copyright law merit badges under what it’s calling the Intellectual Property Badge Award Program”.
However, “Its amazing at the horrible reporting that has been been done about this story,” posted the editor of Scouting News, under our story. “All the U.S. media is doing is confusing people.”
And on his site, “There is increased confusion over an announcement about a program to teach intellectual property to scouts in Hong Kong,” he said. “It has no relation to the Boy Scouts of America or its Merit Badge program. According to the Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong, one of the co-sponsors of the program, it’s a proficiency badge for attending a series of seminars and can not even be worn on the uniform.
“Numerous sites that picked up the story are trying to sound informed while making horrible connections to various Scouting programs. A little bit of research would go a long way. A post on a political blog at news.com links to the U.S. Scouting Service Project’s list of merit badges. It appears they missed the fact their story came from Hong Kong and not the U.S.”
Because it was only in Hong Kong and not in the US or elsewhere, it was OK?
Not to worry, though. “Dean Boyd, a Homeland Security Department spokesman in Washington, said that the United States had no plans to introduce a similar program, partly because of liability concerns,” says the NYT, and, “Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, said in an e-mail message that the group had no plans to ask scouts to report infringements to law enforcement officials.”
No mention anywhere about what parents think about it all.
Knowledge of IP law is, of course, absolutely essential for every scout, as we noted. And to make that crystal clear, the Holly Kong government staged a ‘Respect for Intellectual Property Rights Fun Fair’ at Kowloon Park Piazza”. As part of the festivities, “Apart from the singing performances, an Intellectual Property Game Competition was held in which 10 scout teams were competing for the “Best Intellectual Property Game Booth Design,” said an official government press statement.
On top of that, as we posted in May, “The US entertainment cartels have re-started their Kiddie Spy program, launched in Hong Kong at the beginning of the year. Under it, 200,000 members of local youth groups would “spy on internet activity” and, “report illegal file transfers,” in complete accord with other corporate efforts to indoctrinate children with propaganda developed principally by the corporate movie and music industries.”
Now, “Starting this summer the Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search Internet discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies, and report them to the authorities,” says the NYT. “The campaign has delighted the entertainment industry, but prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.
“The so-called Youth Ambassadors campaign will start on Wednesday with 1,600 youths pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and several Hong Kong government ministers. The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.”
However, the story continues, the program is, “making some here nervous”. For example, “Emily Lau, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said that the government should release more details of the program to the public for debate before proceeding, and should be particularly wary of having children report offenders to law enforcement.”
But in the hope of making the program “cool,” the Hong Kong government has arranged for Wednesday’s stadium ceremony to include Stephen Fung, a film director and actor, as well as four singers popular here: Gigi Leung, Niki Chow, Wilfred Lau and Alex Fong.
“When youths report to the authorities that movies, songs, television programs or other copyrighted material is being made available through an Internet posting, customs officials will verify the posting and then relay it to trade groups like the Motion Picture Association or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry,” says the NYT.
The IFPI ( International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) is owned by the Big Four Organized Music cartel,
The Hong Kong youth campaign, covering a sixth of the territory’s youths ages nine to 25, is particularly aimed at teenagers and comments from messrs Boyd and Smith notwithstanding, “Customs officials here have already been contacted by their counterparts in the United States, Macao and mainland China, and are ready to work with other jurisdictions to help set up similar programs,” the NYT has Tam Yiu-keung, the Hong Kong Excise and Customs Department’s senior superintendent, stating.
Maybe Holly Kong will introduced a Chinese superhero similar to Canada’s.
What’s Captain Copyright in Chinese?
Stay tuned.
Also See:
The New York Times – Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online, July 18, 2006
copyright law merit badges – Scouting with the MPAA, May 3, 2005
official government – Respect for Intellectual Property Rights Fun Fair, April 23, 2006
Kiddie Spy program – Hong Kong’s kiddie Net spies, May 31, 2006
similar to Canada’s – Open letter to parents, July 2, 2006
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July 18th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
“Knowledge of IP law is, of course, absolutely essential for every scout, as we noted. And to make that crystal clear, the Holly Kong government staged a ‘Respect for Intellectual Property Rights Fun Fair’ at Kowloon Park Piazza”.
Funny thing. You put two USA lawyers in opposing sides of any infringement lawsuit and they cannot agree on how to interpret the law and its frequently contradictory jurisprudence. They cannot even agree on what is infringement. And someone expects some kids in China to have “Knowledge of IP law”? And act as informers on “infringer” frineds? Someone must be pulling my leg.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
July 18th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
The Chinese scouts get the cartel version of IP “law”. It’s very unambiguous. Guilty until proven innocent. It would be too bothersome and confusing to try to explain that copyright and IP law has a whole other side that is ostensibly in place to protect the rights of THE PUBLIC…
“You’re a thought criminal!”
July 19th, 2006 at 9:24 am
I wonder, how much is the comission for turning in someone?
I can imagine these prizes and rules:
100,000 yuans for turinig in a parent or a sibling.
10,000 yuans for turning in another relative.
5,000 yuans for others.
0 yuans for governmet and party officials.
Rules:
1. Payment is made if there are convctions based on the testimony of the informer.
2. If the informer has to leave the country to avod a life threatening situation, the Chinese government will give 5,000 yuans for travel expenses.
3. If the jailed parent is the sole provider of food and shelter of the informet, the government will thereafter provide food and sheler to the informer, until the informer becomes a legal adult.
4. All program government expenses are paid for by RIAA and MPAA.