Microsoft supports IP awareness in schools

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I wanted to call out some work done by some colleagues of mine. A study was released yesterday about teenagers' opinions on illegal downloading.  The study indicates only 11% of teens surveyed completely understood the rules about downloading from the Internet - in fact, 49% say they aren't at all familiar with the guidelines for downloading images, music, software and other IP.  Fifty-five percent of these teens said they've downloaded or shared content over the Internet; after learning the rules, 72% said they would not engage in illegal downloading.   

As a way to educate students about IP rights, Microsoft is sponsoring and piloting an IP rights curriculum, geared towards 8th, 9th, and 10th graders, which will be made available to teachers for free.  To accompany this, a new site launched today - www.mybytes.com - where students can create their own ringtones, assign permissions for its usage, and post their IP for others to enjoy.  To learn more about the curriculum, which was created by Topics Education, visit www.ipreducation.com. And here's more on the study at ms.com.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2008
    Please note, that IP means Internet Protocol, in this and many other communities. If you need to use an acronym, it is far better to use IPR, for Intellectual Property Rights. This is standard language in other companies, such as Philips Electronics. I notice, that in your article you use "IP rights" in several places, so IPR is a demonstrably better acronym. If your lawyers cannot get used to what hundreds of millions of people (the whole IT sector, developers etc.) see as the meaning of IP, being Internet Protocol, please help them a little.

  • Anonymous
    February 21, 2008
    More and more computer science programs are including units on ethical and legal issues. Perhaps one

  • Anonymous
    February 22, 2008
    More and more computer science programs are including units on ethical and legal issues. Perhaps one