Copyrights: No badge of coolness for Scouts

The first Boy Scouts campaign to police the Internet for copyright violations is starting in Hong Kong, but the concept behind it is rooted firmly in U.S. soil.

A report in the New York Times lends the impression that the whole thing is the idea of the Chinese government--a perception that is sure to conjure images of goose-stepping, uniformed youths marching to the orders of the last standing communist superpower. But the program, in fact, was inspired by businesses in the United States--Hollywood studios to be exact, of little surprise.

Earlier this year, the the campaign, along with the Scouts and the Hong Kong government, to create "The Intellectual Property Badge Award Program," a distinction that will take its place among other industrial categories, including "American Labor" and "Nuclear Science."

But for the program to succeed, it must overcome an obstacle far more onerous than any legal or business concern: As the Times' account noted, "Some of their friends thought it was uncool."

Blog community response:

"Is this a Hollywood lawyer's ultimate fantasy for the States? I've got another idea. How about a Merit Badge for mastery of fair use?"
--TeleRead

"In the end, it appears the thing that might doom the program the most is simply the fact that it isn't particularly 'cool' to rat out your friends for sharing some music."
--Techdirt

"If you're going to teach kids about copyright, you should, well, teach them about copyright. That includes teaching them about the parts of copyright law that might be at odds with your business model. Otherwise you're just teaching kids about your business model."
--Medialoper