The Boy Scouts on Intellectual Property [US]

According to a recent report by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), movie pirating contributed to a lack of jobs for more than 140,000 Americans. But have no fear, the Boy Scouts are here! On October 20, the Motion Picture Association of America announced that it has joined forces with the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts of America to help raise awareness about the value of copyrights.

Now troops can choose from a number of activities that qualify them to earn a “Respect Copyrights” patch. A couple examples of the activities include creating a public service announcement demonstrating the importance of copyright protection or visiting a movie studio to learn about the people, time, and costs associated with making a movie.

So it appears that the Boy Scout Oath should now be amended to say something like …

On my honor I will do my best to not become a thief of intellectual property

and to obey the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Scout Law;

To help other people at all times except by way of illegal file sharing;

To keep myself physically strong so that I can fight the war against piracy,

mentally awake, and morally straight.