I just got this email from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) which I decided to republish in it’s entirety because it made me so angry. Essentially a thinly veiled corporate mouthpiece and lobby is distributing books and curriculum to schools saying “think first copy later”. This to me is a disturbing indication of how corporations are infiltrating schools, which IMHO should be institutes of learning and broadening the mind as opposed to teaching corporate propaganda. Some corporations are stealing our ability to be creative by trying to OWN everything, and this is not just about music. Consider natural seeds and genes that Monsanto and other corporations are actually patenting. If you can copywrite the program of life itself we are heading for a dystopian future. Please support the EFF as they are one important vanguard in protecting our rights and freedoms in the information age.
Last week, the Copyright Alliance Education Foundation — a nonprofit mouthpiece for the entertainment and software industries — unveiled plans to spread its protectionist ideas to the nation’s schools and libraries through the distribution of a curriculum titled “Think First, Copy Later.” “Think First, Copy Later” and other intimidating educational materials were produced by the MPAA, RIAA, Business Software Alliance, and other content holders to scare students into believing that making copies is wrong.
EFF knows that the creators and innovators of tomorrow don’t need more intimidation. What they need is solid, accurate information that will help them make smart choices about how to use new technologies. That’s why EFF is launching the free, Creative Commons-licensed “Teaching Copyright” curriculum and website to help educators explore copyright issues in their classrooms. These materials encourage students to discover their legal rights and responsibilities — including how to make full and fair use of technology that is revolutionizing learning and the exchange of information.
The debates over copyright and technology — whether they take place in classrooms, pressrooms or courtrooms — should be based on facts, not fear. Help EFF in our ongoing efforts to educate the public — including smart, creative and inquisitive young people — about the purpose and limits of copyright law.
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What’s particularly disturbing about this is that the Copyright Alliance is specifically targeting the K12, because, and this is a direct quote from ESA, a member organization of the Copyright Alliance:
In the 15- to 24-year-old (range), reaching that demographic with morality-based messages is an impossible proposition… which is why we have really focused our efforts on elementary school children. At those ages, children are open to receiving messages, guidelines, rules of the road, if you will, with respect to intellectual property.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9789821-7.html?tag=nefd.blgs
How completely and utterly Orwellian is that? It’s amazing these people can say things like that with a straight face.
Good catch – this really does look like shameful fear mongering bordering on child abuse.
I had one tiny problem with your article however – you used the present tense “are infiltrating” when describing the corporate agenda’s relationship with schools in this country. IMHO this infiltration is old news, dating back to the founding of our ‘modern’ education system.
It would be nice if they were institutes for broadening the mind – but the reality is quite the opposite.
This really really looks like frightened mongering (close to maltreating children) behaved indecently to Fine capture.
i remember this theme, work on it in hight school, really interesting
It would be nice if they were institutes for broadening the mind – but the reality is quite the opposite.