News.com is running a story about the BSA’s new mascot, a ferret who lectures children about the perils of the copyright infringement. Children will play games where they destroy pirated software and collect licensing agreements.

Oh good lord.

How about teaching them the real facts of our absurd copyright system? That if they go into a record store and steal a cd, they may be arrested and subject to a fine of up to $1000, but if they are hit by a lawsuit from the RIAA, they could be fined for millions in damages? Try to explain to them that taking an intangible object is worth thousands of times more than taking the same object in tangible form.

Why not teach them about the public domain, and all the resources available to them which are in the public domain?

Why not teach them about the Creative Commons and the culture which promotes sharing and collaboration rather than ownership?

It’s simple: because the BSA is simply about promoting fear, not education.

No thanks to Snitch the Weasel.