Dev.SN

Girl Scouts Get a Badge in Intellectual Property

posted by n1 on Thursday March 27 2014, @09:35PM   
from the propaganda-for-the-kids dept.

zocalo writes:

Techdirt is reporting in a follow up to their 2006 story about how the Los Angeles wing of the Boy Scouts of America had started offering an MPAA-supported patch in "respecting copyright," in which "respecting copyright" was actually respecting the MPAA's industry slanted view of copyright. Now it appears that the Girl Scouts are finally catching up. The Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation has helped create a special new "IP patch" for the Girl Scouts (PDF).

As the articles notes in its conclusion, there is also an "Energy Conservation" badge sponsored by an oil company so it appears that if you have a powerful enough industry, you can now push propaganda on kids in the form of "merit badges".

• Re:Indoctrination (Score: 5, Interesting) by monster on Friday March 28 2014, @05:17AM

  by monster (1260) on Friday March 28 2014, @05:17AM (#22428) Journal

  Since in the culture I belong to there isn't any tradition about that Boy/Girl Scout thing I haven't got a formed opinion about the matter, but I have recently read an interesting point of view about it [typepad.com]:

  The cookie-buying experience isn't about making some sort of charitable contribution. Buying cookies is an incredibly inefficient way to support anything but a cookie company. No, the experience from the buyer's point of view is an emotional connection to something that's been in their life since they were a kid (there's a reason they don't change the flavors) as well as a positive interaction with a young person learning to speak up.

  Parent

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