Copyright presentation

I asked my brother-in-law who happens to be an attorney to talk to my 6th and 7th grade computer classes about intellectual property issues. First of all, I have to commend my students -- they were great! They were quiet, listened intently, and -- for the most part -- asked some very good questions. I think they learned a lot.

Larry geared most of his talk on music downloading. This is a big issue with these kids. Many of them have portable digital music devices (mp3s, iPods, etc.). He explained to them that the best policy is to be sure that you pay for the music you download and get them from a reputable site. He referred them to riaa.org for a list of reputable downloading sites. I did print off the list and will put the link on my school webpage for parents to see. The students asked such questions as:

- What if I give my friend a copy of the songs that I downloaded?
- Why did they invent things like DVR, Tivo, CD and DVD burners if it's illegal to copy songs and movies?
- (this is a good one!) What if my friend and I go halves on a CD, do we both get to download the music onto our iPods?

There were many more, this was just to name a few. What a great teachable moment! Thanks, Larry for your presentation!