Copyright Crusaders Hit Schools

A copyright-crusading cartoon ferret is the latest brainchild from the BSA. The software trade group will sponsor a contest in September to name the weasel mascot, which will be used in marketing campaigns to teach kids to be good cybercitizens.

"Kids may not have such fully formed ideas about how the world works," Bucholz said. "For older students, that stuff doesn't wash."

He said once students develop critical thinking skills, read the news and learn about content owners suing their customers, for instance, it decreases the industry's ability to "take the moral high ground." Encouraging students to discuss issues related to file sharing would be more productive.