"What's the Diff?"- MPAA Brainwashes Jr. High Kids

[Roundabout]

Interesting story from "Wired" today, the MPAA is starting earlier and earlier to try and brainwash kids about that morally reprehensible act of file sharing. Looks like some of them are smarter than we think, though. There may still be hope yet.

File-Sharing Is, Like, Totally Uncool!

The MPAA tries to turn junior high school into antipiracy boot camp...

The producer tells her sad story with her fists curled inside the sleeves of an oversize hooded sweatshirt: "I'm, like, losing my job, and maybe I, like, need that money for my family or something." The cause of her consternation: peer-to-peer file-sharing, which she says is devastating Hollywood.

The "producer" doesn't produce movies any more than the "actor" or "singer" sitting beside her acts or sings. They are all seventh-graders at Sierra Vista Junior High in Southern California's Santa Clarita Valley. They're engaged in a role-playing game, as directed in a lesson plan sponsored and bankrolled by the Motion Picture Association of America. The curriculum - called "What's the Diff?: A Guide to Digital Citizenship" - has reached slightly more than half a million junior high students since it began this school year.

The class is led by Jean Sutton, a volunteer from Junior Achievement, a nonprofit business education group. She hands each student a card that explains what role they are to play - actor, director, producer, singer, computer user, or set builder - and what their viewpoint is supposed to be. "It's good you have your own opinions," Sutton tells them. "But I want you to do the activity based on what the little piece of paper says."

Five of the pieces assert that file-sharing is unequivocally immoral. "Illegal file-swapping has turned my dreams into nightmares," reads the singer's card. "When people illegally download, they are stealing from my family and me," reads the set builder's. The single counterpoint is represented by the computer user. He defends file-sharing largely on the grounds that he won't get caught: "Last time I checked, the Internet police didn't exist."

The activity seems less a role-playing exercise than a regurgitation. Sutton asks each student "why file-swapping's such a big deal." The kids gamely paraphrase from their squares of paper. "The directors don't get paid when the people download movies," says a director. "If only, like, one person is buying the movie and everyone else is copying it, the people in the movies can't, like, make the set things," says a set builder. "It's costing me, like, big bucks because people, like, download them instead of buying them," says a producer. The children, most from the middle-class suburb of Santa Clarita, participate enthusiastically and don't appear troubled, or even bored, by the rote nature of the exercise.

"What's the Diff?" got its start when the MPAA, the trade group representing Hollywood studios, approached Junior Achievement with $100,000 and a notion to get its ideas about the ethics of file-sharing into the classroom. It was written by JA staffers and consultants in close communication with Craig Hoffman, the director of corporate communications at Warner Bros. Entertainment.

The point of the program, says MPAA spokesperson Rich Taylor, is for "students to reach their own conclusions about being a good digital citizen." The real point, of course, is to protect Hollywood from the fate of the record industry. While the music business has already suffered from file-sharing, the film industry has so far been largely unaffected. In fact, according to an Adams Media Research report, Hollywood has seen revenue rise 27 percent in the same four-year period that the recording industry went into free fall. So consider this a preemptive attack, a giant guilt trip on the file-sharing public. Compared to the recording industry's strategy to sue everyone in sight, "What's the Diff?" seems downright enlightened.

Critics aren't mollified. The program presents a "tremendously one-sided view of copyright," says Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "There's no balance; it's entirely corporate driven. If anything, it's an exercise in how efficiently you can brainwash students."

Seltzer might be considerably less concerned had she sat in on a recent lesson at Commerce Middle School in a working-class neighborhood of Yonkers, New York. As in Santa Clarita, the kids here read their stock responses, but unlike their Californian counterparts, they do it in a sullen monotone, as if reciting some musty poem. Only the computer user, an animated wiseass in baggy jeans, delivers a passionate response. "It's not hurting anybody. I'm not selling it. I'm using it in my home." The other kids nod energetically at this, and hands shoot up throughout the room. One boy says, "If the computer user is just downloading music, how are the carpenters who work on movie sets being hurt?" The other students regard this as irrefutable logic, and a chorus of "mm-hmm" and "that's right" fills the room.

A confident, articulate girl in cornrows and too-tight jeans speaks up. "Look, you preview what's on the CD, and if you like it, you go out and buy the CD because you get a booklet and, like, extra stuff with it." This, whether she knows it or not, is exactly the argument that the major music labels are hearing from many of their own consultants.

As the class winds down, several kids say that downloading files from Kazaa is no different than borrowing a library book. "After you get it, you're just going to delete it anyway," a boy says. JA volunteer Evan Snyder, who's good with the kids, gets a crafty look on his face. "How is that different from me just borrowing a Ferrari from the dealership and just passing it around to my friends?"

The girl in the cornrows snaps back, "Well, that's fine! You're borrowing it! As long as you give it back." The bell rings, and the students bustle into the well-worn hallways of their middle school.

[glockjs]

thats low, really low. who is the mpaa to try and press their opions and beliefs on young minds. the schools in america are supposed to teach young minds how to think for themselves, give them the tools to form their own opinions. wtf. thats evil. how corrupt is that. i swear, the mpaa keeps this up i will do nothing for the rest of my life but oppose them. they keep pushing like this, they're really not gonna like it when people stand up and push back.....

[Cobra]

Whoa, here's, like, a radical idea dude!

Drop the prices, and I'll start buying again. I am the customer, I deserve some respect. Respect is mutual, give me none and you can expect none in return.

I was going to write a lecture on this, but it's all been said before. You know the score.

'Nuff said.

Cobra

[Supreme2k]

I always love the "MP3 = Ferrari" argument. I guess that's why they (RIAA) want to to sue P2P users for ridiculous sums.

Now, if I could download a Ferrari, use it, then delete it, that would be sweet

[gitreel]

When do you think valenti last got some? Never mind..I don't wanna know. That is a disturbing mental image. I think he is right up there with sargeant major dickerson from Good Morning Vietnam. He is in more dire need of a blow job than any white man in history. It might make him more reasonable, but where do we find a female stupid enough and blind enough to pull that off?

[Supreme2k]

[gitreel]

now that is just too funny......

[glockjs]

yup good ol' lewinsky is a team player

[gitreel]

she certainly has the mouth for it.

[mecg]

Cigars all around!!!

[gmatov]

Yeah, and, at the time, the bod, too. 160 pounder, looked like, but, since her semen stained dress was being sold, square inch by square inch, guess she just had a good business "head" on her. More square inches, doncha know.

And to compare MP3s to Ferraris, well, maybe most of them are owned by the big bucks music industry honchos, and they want "you" to know it is not nice to steal MP3s or Ferraris, because most of the Ferraris are theirs.

Imagine, a music industry exec thumbing a ride, "Someone stole my Ferrari!", and having to ride home in a Pontiac Aztec, some poor unsuspecting MP3 DLer not knowing who he is giving a lift to. The shame of it all.

Ain't them NY brats a cynical bunch? Imagine, questioning a buncha honchos from the producers, and saying "Gimme some good stuff, maybe I'll buy it, not a, A, mind you, new release, with 13 pieces of "filler material", " Hell, I already got those songs on 23 of the other recordings I've bought!"

The Set Builder got paid his wages when he finished the job, he does not share in the profits. The others, who knows, most are paid when their function is done.The leeches get the lion's share. Every disk sold, they get a cut. The increment is theirs. How they get Ferraris.

Like Garth Brooks, in the Playboy interview, said, noone should be allowed to sell his own copy of one of his recordings, because he didn't get a cut of the aftermarket sale.

Now, if that isn't a good reason to not buy any of his material, what the hell is?

Glad everything I care to listen to is on vinyl. most of the "Artists" are dead, won't give much of a damn if I copy to a different medium.

(As an aside, just how in the Hell can some of you guys even consider some of the shit produced today as "Music"?)

Sorry about that, I'm an old fart, all the stuff out today sounds like shit.

Cheers,

George

[themichael]

So it only takes a 100K to get access to brain wash kids?

Where's my checkbook........

[dafoe]

Like Garth Brooks, in the Playboy interview, said, noone should be allowed to sell his own copy of one of his recordings, because he didn't get a cut of the aftermarket sale.

Now, if that isn't a good reason to not buy any of his material, what the hell is?

The material.

Just one more millionare who is so out of touch with reality that it borders on delusional.

That lazy SOB sings for a living and he has the nerve to complain that he's losing a few pennies because someone is re-selling one of his crappy CDs.

He should thank God that anybody bought it the first time

[dafoe]

So it only takes a 100K to get access to brain wash kids?

Where's my checkbook........

If you tell them that you work for the tobacco industry you get a bulk rate 25% discount

[flaninacupboard]

so, hang on, over the last four years, where DVD has become amazingly popular, movie industry sales are up and music industry sales are down.

that's interesting......

I have to be honest here, before DVD i can tell you EXACTLY how much i spend on videos. £8. i bought a copy of Leon. that's it. everything else i just watched/taped off TV. i now have (i expect) £2,000 odd DVD's. i buy cd's with pretty much the same frequency i always have, not too often.

Also, has anyone seen REAL evidence of someone losing their job due to cutbacks? anyone? no, because it doesn't work like that. the people who do things get paid for a job and move on, the people who sit in the leather chair in the office sit in a leather chair and get rich - only now slightly less rich. shit, they can only afford to fly to the moon, not all the way to mars, i'd best slash my wrists because of the guilt.

Musicians used to make money by being good and performing. films used to make money by being shown in the cinema. our society seems to be disappearing up it's own arse.



George, not sure exactly what your tastes are, but check out some artists like Coldplay, Ed Harcourt, Nick Cave or some old Eels. there's a lot of great artists out there today, they just don't all get Mc Donalds and Pepsi deals.

[gitreel]

I think both valenti and cary sue were dropped on their heads when they were children.

[Supreme2k]

before DVD i can tell you EXACTLY how much i spend on videos. £8. i bought a copy of Leon. that's it.

Now there's a children's educational video

...or some old Eels.

ROCK!

[Death-Toaster]

Man, that story makes me want to go download something. I can only imagine what i would do if i were at one of those schools .... that would be fun

[shoozleboy]

I don't care how much they are paying to schools or whoever so they can have the kids play act this shit.... It has NO room in public schools. With budgets strained and the level of teachers skill diminishing with each generation - the last thing kids in school need to be taught is that some rich asses are crying in their caviar over the fact that their industry is going down the tubes because their product sucks. It's the same garbage recycled by different artists....

I'm checking with my school district and I certainly hope that they are not allowing this crap in their classrooms... I may have to visit a school board meeting and voice my opinion over it, if they are....

There is no room in our schools for this - they need to tend to their business by making a better product and listening to their analysts and change the way they do business. The company I work for had to change the way they did business and guess what - we make more money now than we did 4 years ago... imagine that!

[gmatov]

Shoozle,

The ******* analysts ARE the ones they are listening to. They see big bucks out there that they are not getting a cut out of, and say you gotta do this, or that.

Jesus Christ, the ******* pollsters are in IRAQ asking the "average" Iraqi if they are better off than they were 4 years ago when GW got into office. (* I know, it's not quite 4 years, but still. )

And 52 % say yes, 46 % say no, 3 % undecided. (May exceed 100 % due to rounding errors, poll has an accuracy rating of + or - 3.6 %.) Zogby, Gallup, everybody else is over there trying to make a killing, and the only ones being killed are the peon GIs. The Generals say you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. BUT, none of their eggs, nor their kids.

Was I some of younz (sic), I'd be heading for Canada, and hope the Canadian Gov didn't say, well, you gotta go, so get the hell out of our country, or GW will declare war on us, too.

You guys would be a cake walk.

Cheers,

George

[lordsmurf]

I wonder how stupid I'd be if we'd have learned about anti-piracy instead of the 3 R's in school...


1+1=3, beeyotch, but I ain't no kindz or theef. Them MPA's lurnd me gud on it.


... morons.

I'm actually paying attention for this election. Too many things piss me off.

[teegee420]

Fight the power!

[gmatov]

Watch your mouth!

Election = "politcs", you're gonna get this thread shut down.

ALL govs want to dumb down the electorate. Stupids are easier to control. It's why the schools pass D- students. They cull the cream of the crop, since we still do need SOME smart people to do the science scut work, but it is much easier to rule, and that is the word, rule, a dumb population.

Jesus, when Beavis and Butthead is the biggest program on TV, what the hell chance does the US have of being a Smart Power, as opposed to a Super Power? You can send a million Estupidos to fight across the ocean, but not any smart people. Or, connected people, vis-a vis, our present leadership. "I had other things that were more pressing". etc.

Cheers,

George

[shoozleboy]

The ******* analysts ARE the ones they are listening to. They see big bucks out there that they are not getting a cut out of, and say you gotta do this, or that.

You're talking about their own analysts - I'm talking about the independent analysts that have been saying for years that the entertainment industry was and still is heading for some big losses - and not due to teens downloading music and movies - but because of their crap that they have been producing for about a decade now....

Instead of them actually trying to change their model of business, they insist on pointing the finger at someone else and say they are to blame. Now, they are trying to take this to our schools??

No wonder kids are being 'dumbed' quicker and easier nowadays.... we let this crap into our schools?? Not here, if I can do anything about it. I already asked some of my neighbors who have kids in school if they knew anything about this here. They are asking questions now too...

We changed an entire school board not too long ago because they thought they ruled to the roost with our tax money.... they learned the hard way. If this group allows this kind of crap into our schools in my district - then they too may go the way of the dinosaur ...

[lieutenant]

I live in Canada, and i have yet to hear of anything like this going on in our schools. And besides, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that file sharing in Canada is legal. I don't think it's that big of a problem for canadians and canadian artists, becasue there aren't that many.....when we canadians share files we're just stealing from Americans :P

[gitreel]

not all americans feel that way. It is only the people who don't understand what a computer is, and don't want to learn. It is stupid people like Jack(head up his arse)Valenti and Cary(sue them all)Sherman.

[MeTaLgEaRsOoTy]

theyve pulled this shit in some UK schools as well.
they take round the illegal drugs,and now they take videos,cds,dvds,and say,to the kids,if you see these,tell us privatly or tell the teachers.
my kids class got it,shes 10,and was laughing at the back of the class,as i sorta supply her friends parents,with the odd dvd,cd,etc.
and she commented on the disney piracy warnings on dvds,with the dumbo movie,saying look at how bad pirate copies are..my kids were like...dads copies look better than that..hhaah

[dvdashot]

Kids say the darndes things. That's brilliant. It's always funny to see a child's reaction to propaganda.

[smearbrick1]

Does movie piracy really affect the movie industry's little guys? (grips, set builders, set painters, lighting best boys...etc) I doubt it. Don't those guys all belong to a union? I also believe they get paid by the job not based on profits. The only people worried about the profits are those people who have a vested interest in the project...(directors, producers, some actors...who got paid already) These people, regardless of profit, still make money. That's why they call it a "budget". You can't tell me that Jim Carrey (maybe a bad example) is going to do a film based entirely on the studios word that it will turn a profit. WRONG!!! He's getting paid!!!! Regardless whether film flops or not. Look at Judge Dredd... that movie was a disaster in the box office (100 million dollar budget, grossed like 57 million). You can bet Sylvester Stallone still got paid his 20 million dollar fee. The kicker is, those with a vested interest, ie: the production company didn't get theirs. Everyone on that set still got paid!!!

[Tidy]

I read a post on this forum that called musicians lazy. They are far from it. Please do not make sweeping generalizations. Artists work hard for their money. Where the irony is, is that artists make most of their money from merchandising and live performances not from album sales. Like everyone said the fat cat producers make the money from the album sales.