[pp.int.general] UK action idea: in schools

[Richard Stallman]

    I can tell you as a former GCSE student myself (like everyone in their
    20s in the UK) that there was little to no mention of filesharing, P2P
    or copyright at all other than a very brief "don't infringe copyright
    on school computers" lumped in with all the usual rules.

I have more info now, and it confirms what you said about the GCSE IT.
The propaganda is limited to samlearning.com and maybe another similar
commercial site.

However, I'm told that many schools tell students to study using
samlearning.com.  So the school system does have a problem even though
it isn't in the GCSE IT as such.

							     Is there any
    way we can see the samlearning screenshots?

I can forward that message to whoever wants it.  Do you want it?

    > But even if it is only 10%, that is still a lot of students. Â And
    > their competitors may be similar. Â Their message is likely to have an
    > influence unless the students see arguments that sharing is good.
    > They may keep sharing, but they will tell themselves "I am a bad
    > person because I share."

    Considering how many of these students likely have iPods full of
    downloaded MP3s in their pocket I doubt that.

Lots of people keep doing things that they believe are wrong.  (In
many cases we might agree that those things are wrong.)  So the fact
that they have iScrods, or some other music player, with unauthorized
copies doesn't imply they are immune to the propaganda that sharing is
wrong.  In other words, the propaganda there can have an effect.

Besides, we would like kids to stand up and say, "Sharing is good,
honi soit qui mal y pense."

    Petitioning the LEA (Local
    Education Authority) alongside other concerned parties (parents in
    particular) is likely to lead to better longterm change. Making the
    point that schools should not be in the business of dispensing
    political opinions as fact - and copyright infringement being "wrong"
    is very much political.

You know better than I do what avenues might work in the UK.
I am just hoping to get people interested in launching a campaign.

			    It is wise also not to give the impression of
    being against teaching the legal facts:

The propaganda is more about the morality than legality.  If it
mentions laws at all, it pretends they determine write and wrong.

    > Education about copyright is not the response that's needed. Â This is
    > a moral point, not a legal one, so the response has to be on the moral
    > plane too.
    With no disrespect, I have to disagree with you there. Schools
    definitely should give accurate and correct information on copyright
    law - that is part of their proper role.

I don't disagree, but that's not the issue here.  The propaganda is
about morality, not law.

-- 
Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org, www.gnu.org