MPAA TAKES PIRACY BATTLE TO SCHOOLS

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are sponsoring an anti-piracy program in California elementary schools (kindergarten to sixth grade), the London Financial Times reported today in a report datelined Los Angeles. The FT said that the two industry groups will be sponsoring an anti-piracy “curriculum” developed by iKeepSafe, a website that seeks to enlist the Internet in broadening the educational and social interaction of children. The plan is expected to be offered to California schools on a voluntary basis and eventualy extended nationwide. Marsali Hancock, president of iKeepSafe, told the FT that the MPAA and RIAA did not influence the curriculum. “They’re not on my board and there’s no long-term relationship that we have with them,” she maintained — nor are they “shaping what we are creating for educators,” she added. But Stephen Smith, an entertainment attorney, said he was concerned about the decision to target small children. “It’s like: let’s get them early and brainwash them,” he said.