MPAA Gets College Kids To Create Free Propaganda
from the but-I-thought-if-it's-free,-it's-stolen? dept
For years, the entertainment industry has attempted to use school programs to help get kids to believe their propaganda about file sharing. While there's little evidence that unauthorized file sharing actually hurts the industry, and the numbers that the industry throws out about how much unauthorized file sharing costs it are easily proven as bogus, the industry still thinks that schools should be teaching students about ways to protect its outdated business models. Both the MPAA and the RIAA have created educational programs, where industry representatives go into schools to give extremely one-sided presentations that often ignore things like fair use or the basic economics of content. The latest may be even worse. Apparently, the MPAA has convinced a student group called "Students In Free Enterprise" (SIFE) that operates at a number of universities around the world, to have student film makers create propaganda public service commercials about how downloading harms the movie industry. TorrentFreak, where we learned of this, highlights some of the more ridiculous results. No matter what you think of the videos, you have to wonder why students are being asked to create one-sided videos for a specific commercial interest as a student project. In the meantime, we recall that one of the lessons that the MPAA in-school project was teaching kids was "If you haven't paid for it, you've stolen it." It would seem then, by the MPAA's own logic, these PSAs are "stolen."
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:P by Chronno S. Trigger on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 12:18pm
Are they avalable on youtube to watch?
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PSA? by MisterPD on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 12:24pm
What exactly is a PSA?
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Re: PSA? by Anonymous Coward on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 12:26pm
I think it's Public Service Announcement.
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by Ralph on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 12:26pm
Every student working towards an academic grade has to work after scientific rules. These rules include reflecting the current state of facts and knowledge. Working for the MPAA/RIAA and doing propaganda work for them shows the inmaturity of those so called students and disqualifies them for any academic grade. Being a student myself, i feel ashamed for my distant colleagues...
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Not effective by TheDock22 on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 1:07pm
I don't know about you, but whenever somebody came in to talk to our high school about something that was "evil", all it made me want to do is go out and try it anyway to see why it was so bad.
Also, I doubt the college students wanted to do the videos, but hey it's credit.
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Satire by Newob on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 1:12pm
I wonder if the RIAA/MPAA/Military-Industrial-Entertainment Association of America would promote school to poke fun at or satirize the anti-filesharing propaganda. Mock propaganda rocks!
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by Anonymous Coward on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 1:22pm
Why should universities feel the need to take any more steps for copyright infringement than for other civil infractions? Why not report students for violating EULAs, or contracts between students and other third parties? Why can't *any* entity call up a university, say that they were wronged by student-x and expect them to force student-x to cease and desist, or obtain their identity, or confiscate their computer and hand it over to said entity as 'evidence'.
Universities are not law enforcement organizations, they are not obligated, and indeed shouldn't, interfere or aide one side in civil disputes (unless compelled by law).
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VCRs & boomboxes by Newob on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 1:22pm
The Military-Industrial-&-Recorded-Entertainment-Association of America's (MIREAA's) premise that unauthorized filesharing hurts their industry is patently false. It doesn't de-value entertainment or cause lost revenues; although it may draw attention away from Hollywood by de-centralizing the distribution of recorded media, but freedom of speech can easily do that.
How about a propaganda-style MIREAA video in a retro-futuristic universe where VCRs & boomboxes (& pencils) have the same reputation as filesharing today; fair use laws never existed and computer technology hasn't advanced as far as it has in our universe.
The more I think about this RIAA-sponsored video thing, the better it sounds! How can they rule out mock propaganda?
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by Anonymous Coward on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 1:30pm
I'm disturbed by the propaganda that implies that copyright infringement is (in most cases) a criminal offence. The images of police, jail, ... etc.
The reality contains lawyers, threatening letters and fines (settlements), appropriately associated with lesser violations such as speeding (although the financial penalties for copyright infringement are disproportionately large).
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by Overcast on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 2:03pm
Hmmm
Downloading sure as hell didn't hurt the porn industry.
Can they explain to the kiddies why you can find loads of porn on the web and yet the porn industry still made more $$$ than Hollywood last year?
lol
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Was it for Free ? by Mr Smith on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 2:10pm
"you have to wonder why students are being asked to create one-sided videos for a specific commercial interest as a student project."
Not really, for the MPAA it's an easy way to get there "message" out.
What you truly need to wonder is WHO would create them for the MPAA, and did they truly do it for free ????
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by anonamass on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 2:32pm
They falsely sue people for money and they don't pay for advertising. What an amazing buisiness model.
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Re: VCRs & boomboxes by pudro on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 2:34pm
I really like the combination of "MIRE" and "*AA". Intentional or not. "Mired" is a great adjective for th *AAs and their mindset.
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Massive BS from **AA by Nasty Old Geezer on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 3:01pm
The crap about a drop in CD sales is nonsense, if they look at year to year sales of new releases only. Geezers like me fueled a CD boom when we went back and bought up re-releases of classic rock albums from the 1950's -- 1970's. It's called pent-up demand, it just took a few years to work its way through.
Now that bubble has faded out and the RIAA is screaming at the only external factor they can find -- they should be looking at a better business model and ways to use the Web to promote new music and broaden the music genres that are available.
Piracy of movies is total crap, at least in the file sharing way. The real piracy there is from MPAA members.
Record and movie execs need to read and understand "Guns, Germs, and Steel", or get ready to disappear.
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Hot damn! by Cixelsid on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 3:02pm
That shit's hilarious, I keep on expecting that crazy freak to start stabbing the guy and blood to go spurting around like in those old Monty Python movies. I'm sorry I can't take any of it serious. Its ridiculous. I'm pretty certain that when it comes to killing, speeding wins hands down to piracy, but the fines for speeding are nowhere close to the fines for piracy. Jesus, what an age we live in.
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Re: by Anonymous Coward on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 5:45pm
You know that really is an excellent point.
I personally don't get why people pay for porn because there is so much available legally for free download, let alone via torrents or newsgroups.
Yet the porn industry sold $3.6 billion worth of DVDs in 2006, let alone other distribution channels and let alone world wide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/business/media/22porn.html?ex=1327122000&en=ae526fc82 277506a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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porn by Newob on Mar 12th, 2007 @ 10:27pm
The first capitalist use of just about every new technology has been pornography. Painting, the printing press, photography, film, phone, television, ... er, telegraphy .... Now, the internet.
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Scientific standards by |333173|3|_||3 on Mar 15th, 2007 @ 4:39am
They don't have scientific standards, they're arts students. Meaning no disrespect to friends who are arts students studying real subject like languages, history, or politics, where facts matter, a films studies student does not need to tell the truth in his film, unless he is making a documentary. If he is required to make an advert or a propaganda film, then truth is irrellevant.
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one world one population one union by bajah on May 17th, 2007 @ 2:15pm
this is the beginning of a new world attention for better life all around our mother earth and the biginning of the old gouvernement world who is no more long to live...
let's place to the young who gone a change something that would have been done long time ago but intelligence dont rise everywhere sorry the old welcome to the sunshine army corporation and to our new world...
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