Slashdot.org are carrying a story so AMAZING that I KNEW I had to post about it here. You may find this one a little hard to swallow, and don't be surprised if someone writes in to say its some premature (or very late!) April fool's joke. Its certainly a little too hard to believe:
"According to the New York Times, the movie/record industries are taking their concerns about P2P file sharing into the classroom (free reg. req.) Among other activities, they are planning to play a game called 'Starving Artist' with 5th-9th graders, where students come up with an idea for a record album, cover art, and lyrics only to be told by teachers that the album is already available for download for free."
The first reply on the thread says it all:
I think I'm going to brainwash little kids too. We'll play a game called "Let's sue 12-year old girls!"
This whole thing started as annoying. Then it became worrying. Then maddening. Then infuriating. But now... now its just sort of odd. One wonders what new, strange and wonderful feat of insanity will be next. Asking President Bush to exile P2P file swappers from US soil? The death penalty? Who knows....
In a world where you can be spat on in the street for the color of your skin, one would think that the time in classrooms would be better spent teaching children to be kind to one another, to have patience, to learn tolerance. Anything but this rubbish.
More here.