A More Effective Means of Protecting Rights Holders, Perhaps

Tens of thousands of Boy Scouts here will be able to earn an activity patch for learning about the evils of downloading pirated movies and music.

The patch shows a film reel, a music CD and the international copyright symbol, a ``C'' enclosed in a circle.

The movie industry developed the curriculum as a way of emphasizing the ills of piracy to a generation that has grown up finding free music and video clips on the Internet.

Not surprisingly, this is happening in Los Angeles, home of the entertainment industry. It's a far more productive and non-confrontational means of educating your customer base.