Authorities in Hong Kong have launched an interesting programme which hopes to use young web surfers to police the illegal sharing of copyright content online.
According to the New York Times, some 1600 young people have been signed up as part of the Youth Ambassadors campaign, and they will police message boards, chat rooms and websites looking for illegally posted content. They will then be able to login to a secure website to report any violations, with that information passed on to the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry or Motion Picture Association, as relevant. The trade organisations will then issue cease and desist letters to the offending websites.
What the kids involved get for their snitching - other than a slap from their filesharing school friends - isn't entirely clear. The identities of young people participating in the scheme will be kept secret, though some critics question a scheme which relies on young people to police the activity of their peers. But others say it will ensure a percentage of the youth population recognise the value of copyright, and, they hope, that message might spread through that demographic by word of mouth.