Thought Thieves
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thought Thieves is the name of a 2005 competition sponsored by Microsoft UK for short 'films' — more precisely, video works — "in a format compatible with Microsoft Windows Media Player" on the theme of "How intellectual property theft affects both individuals and society", or more succinctly "on intellectual property theft". The two competition categories are (a) 14–17-year-olds (inclusive) and (b) 18-year-olds and over. The entry form requires finalists to agree to formally license all intellectual property rights in their works on terms acceptable to Microsoft.
The competition is being run in cooperation with First Light (related to the UK Film Council) and Film Education (part of the National Grid for Learning).
The term "thought thief" has reminded some people of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and its notion of a thought police — although the novel nowhere uses thought thief or thought theft, and uses thoughtcrime (or in Newspeak, "crimethink") to refer to the possession of thoughts rather than their appropriation.
[edit] Thought Thieve$: The counter-competition
Later in 2005 a counter-competition arose as a "grassroots response" to Microsoft's competition. Called "Thought Thieve$", it seeks short film entries on the subject of "big companies stealing and profiting from the knowledge commons". Affiliates for the competition include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Downhill Battle, IP Justice, and Creative Commons South Africa. The winning entries become part of "a short film showcase about corporate appropriation of knowledge, culture, and creativity."
[edit] External links
- Thought Thieves site
- Thought Thieve$ site
- Thought Thieves poster
- Microsoft UK press release
- announcement at PC Pro
- MS Calls on Kids to Stop Thought Thieves Slashdot thread
- Zeropaid thread
- "The most dependent filmmaking contest ever"
- Linuxquestions.org thread
- MacDailyNews thread
- O'Reilly thread
- A song of the same title
- A criticism of the counter-competition
