California Elementary Schools To Test Anti-Piracy Curriculum

California elementary students will soon be learning reading, writing, arithmetic and copyright law, if a curriculum being developed by the entertainment industry is approved by California schools.

Wired obtained a new school curriculum being developed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and some of the nation's largest Internet service providers.

The pilot project, scheduled to be tested in California elementary schools later this year, offer lesson plans, talking points for teachers, videos and other educational materials suitable for students in Kindergarten through sixth grade. The overall point of the material is to make the point that sharing content is the same as stealing, even if you just loan it to a friend.

The material was prepared by the California School Library Association and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition in conjunction with the Center For Copyright Infringement, whose board members include executives from the MPAA, RIAA, Verizon, Comcast and AT&T.

The Internet Keep Safe Coalition is a non-profit partnering with various governments and some of the nation’s biggest corporate names like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Target, Xerox, HP and others.