Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online
Movie and song copiers beware: use an Internet discussion site in Hong Kong to violate copyrights and you may be turned in to law enforcement authorities by an 11-year-old Boy Scout.
Starting this summer the Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search Internet discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies, and report them to the authorities. The campaign has delighted the entertainment industry, but prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.
The so-called Youth Ambassadors campaign will start on Wednesday with 1,600 youths pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and several Hong Kong government ministers.
The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.
Little brother is watching…
Now if the RIAA could just share internet and phone wiretaps with the NSA, they could turn legions of Boy & Girl Scouts into professional snitches.
Such a program would play perfectly with the Republican party, who advocates spying on American citizens for fun and for profit!
This will actually work. It will not eliminate the problem but it will make it seem like the crime it is. How long will it last, though?
what better way to clean up than to start a witch hunt led by pre-teens under the direction of a repressive dictatorship? the riaa must be so jealous.
well at least this exploitation of children doesn’t involve slave labor. oh wait, they’re not getting paid for this either.
Having belonged to one of the very few Cub Scout dens ever expelled from the BSA — for extortion — I can appreciate the concept of public service that fits well within the culture we’re looking at. Americans really don’t take an open-minded look at other cultures — much less the history of a culture (even our own?).
We can’t whine about how slow are the growing efforts in China to stop commercial piracy of DVD’s, etc., and whine the opposite way about how their their system begins to deal with that they see as another side of the same piracy coin.
The analysis may be as one-sided as, say, Bill Gates’. But, the inherent concept of scouts, neighborhood watch, calling a cop when you see a crime — instead of turning your back for whatever reason — is not something to criticize at root.
Now remember kids if your parents are hiding a jew turn them in.
The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.
Funny how my mind, after years in the Navy, associates a “uniformed” group with the military…
… along with the thought that they are “expected” to participate.
Mike, it’s like that old joke: what’s the difference between the Boy Scouts and the Army? The Boy Scouts don’t have heavy artillery.
Semper Fi
What could really help is if they did this in Taiwan.
Oh gosh its been awhile since I got back to HK!!! What will they do if I was caught buying pirate cds or dvd scattered through out HK? Probably this kid will talk in Chinese (Cantonese) so I could ignore him (Boyscouts)!!!
I think they should sell cd shape cookies hmmm!!!
Moss, you make a good point about society doing something when people break the law. I have a problem with having immature kids turning in others because they are expected to. As Michael O\ put it, where does this stop and turning in a Jew start.
If the Boy Scouts prove their value in this program, perhaps they can expand it to include searching out child porn. I think we have a real untapped resource here for law enforcement. The Boy Scouts are of the age where they could be used as bait.
I can’t wait to see what the merit badges look like.
P.S. If I ever finish my time machine, I’ll use it to go back as steal #1’s comment for myself 😉
Hmm … I bet the best place to get pirate content in Hong Kong ends up by talking to a boy scout. If they’re anything like American kids they’re probably pirates themselves, thus, who is watching the watchers? What’s to prevent them from setting up their own pirate sites?
Today, copyrighted material, tomorrow, the world! 🙂
8 The Boy Scouts don’t have heavy artillery.
Thanks, I’d forgotten that one.
13 I bet the best place to get pirate content in Hong Kong ends up by talking to a boy scout.
Hmmm, they could “drop a dime” on competitors… the only pirates able to operate would be the ones the kids condone?
12 I think we have a real untapped resource here for law enforcement. The Boy Scouts are of the age where they could be used as bait.
Would a pedophile want to pose as a pirate, or an anti-piracy advocate?
lol – You’re too devious, Mike, and a bad influence!
Quote: “1,600 youths pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars ”
Huh? Since when do kids pledge anything to film stars?
I doubt the government even cares about piracy. This is just a training method to get people to work as spies for the government for free.
How long before the Scouts begin to extort people with threats of telling the government unless they contribute to the troops next field trip?
Sounds like “Hitler Youth” redux.