SIVACRACY.NET: Scout's Honor

A recent story in the New York Times ("Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online") reports that boy scouts and girl guides in Hong Kong will be encouraged to work with the government to catch copyright offenders. Press releases from the Scout Association of Hong Kong and the government's Intellectual Property Department about the Programme on Respect for Intellectual Property Scout Fun Fair and Launching Ceremony seem to confirm that it is a real partnership between scouting and law enforcement to catch intellectual property "pirates."

I'm a former girl scout who enjoyed learning archery, survival skills, and self-defense, while my male peers mastered cooking and sewing, and I well remember the mania I had for collecting merit badges. According to the article, there are no plans to develop a similar program in the United States, but I designed some nifty badges just in case the American scouting leadership has a change of heart.

Thanks to Mel Horan of Garbage Island fame for his Photoshopping skills.

Cross-posted at Virtualpolitik.

Comments

Um . . . why is knowing how to cook and sew insulting?

I'm arguing that scouting allows young people to experience a range of things in the quest for merit badges. I just don't think that policing Intellectual Property should be one of them.

Posted by: Liz Losh | July 23, 2006 03:17 PM

The top one is not a merit badge, it's a badge of rank (2nd Class).

(I was in Troop 2 in Santa Monica as a kid and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.)

Posted by: Cyrus Farivar | October 20, 2006 07:38 PM

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