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Tag: BSA

  • Southern Baptists Oppose Gay Boy Scout Policy

    The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) this week officially expressed “opposition to and disappointment” with a recent Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy change with regards to homosexual scouts.

    Back in May, the BSA National Council voted to remove a ban on openly homosexual scouts, though openly gay scout leaders are still banned. The organization faced pressure to change the policy from current scouts, former scouts, and pop stars.

    The SBC’s condemnation came at the organization’s 2013 Annual Meeting this week in Houston. It states that the SBC believes the new policy will “needlessly politicize human sexuality and heighten sexual tensions within the Boy Scouts.” The resolution does not explicitly prevent SBC churches from hosting Boy Scout troops. SBC leaders have called the resolution “balanced” in its approach toward the new policy.

    Though the SBC’s resolution does not mandate cutting BSA ties, it does explicitly show the SBC believes the new Boy Scout policy is only a “first step” along the path to the organization accepting homosexuality. From the resolution:

    RESOLVED, That we express our well-founded concern that the current executive leadership of the BSA, along with certain board members, may utilize this membership policy change as merely the first step toward future approval of homosexual leaders in the Scouts…

    The resolution also encourages churches that abandon the Boy Scouts to use the Royal Ambassadors instead. The Royal Ambassadors program is a Christian-based Boy Scouts-like program for boys in grades 1 through 6. From the resolution:

    RESOLVED, That we encourage churches that choose to sever ties with the Boy Scouts not to abandon their ministry to boys but consider expanding their Royal Ambassadors ministry, a distinctively Southern Baptist missions organization to develop godly young men…

    The SBC is a highly conservative sect of protestant Christianity with churches found throughout the U.S., and particularly throughout the southern U.S. The organization’s “Statement of Faith” includes the opposition to what the organization calls “sexual immorality,” which includes homosexuality. The SBC, andmany other U.S. Christian organizations are large sponsors of the BSA and Boy Scout troops, and were the primary opposition to the BSA’s new policy.

    RESOLVED, That we express our gratitude for the thousands of individuals within the Scouting family and the culture at large who expressed their opposition to the BSA executive leadership’s intent to change its membership and leadership policies in regard to homosexuality, leading to the compromise recommendation it presented to the BSA National Council…

  • Boy Scouts Anti-Gay Policy is Here to Stay. For Now.

    Boy Scouts anti-gay policy was apparently on the verge of being permanently altered, which would have allowed gay men and women to become scout leaders. However, to clarify these rumors, the organization recently stated that their policy against homosexuals is standing firm.

    The genesis for this particular story begins in West Virginia, where Jen Tyrrell, a mother and Boy Scout troop leader, lost her position due to her sexuality. A firestorm quickly ensued, with thousands of people embarking on a quest to change the policies that discriminate against those individuals looking to assume leadership roles within the organization. What started out as a local story soon found its way into the national spotlight.

    After putting together a petition and gathering approximately 300,000 signatures, she sent the document to the Boy Scouts of America. Although the BSA claims they’ve received the petition, a spokesperson stated that a change isn’t currently in the works.

    According to the Huffington Post, however, the Boy Scouts of America is currently reviewing a resolution that would allow individual units to decide whether or not to allow gay men and women to participate in the program.

    When CBS 21 News inquired about the organization’s decision to leave the policy in place, a spokesperson nimbly avoided the question, stating, “We don’t have an agenda on this issue. We don’t ask about people’s sexuality. The policy is the way it is, because we do not believe that our youth development program is the right place to have this discussion.”

  • Over Half of Computer Users Commit Software Piracy

    It was recently reported that an RIAA lawsuit against LimeWire, seeking $72 trillion in damages, was shot down. A new study has revealed that more than half of all computer users had committed some form of content piracy, which leads to speculation on whether or not some overzealous collective might call for an arrest of them all.

    The study was conducted by industry watchdog group Business Software Alliance, and posted in its ninth annual Global Software Piracy Study. Roughly 15,000 computer users from 33 countries were queried, and plainly asked, “How often do you acquire pirated software or software that is not fully licensed?” About 57% of respondents said that they were pirates, up from 42% in 2011, and the frequency of piracy was likewise up, which costs the software industry about $63.4 billion per year.

    The BSA report states, “This year’s survey finds that frequent pirates – people who admit they acquire unlicensed software all of the time, most of the time, or occasionally – also are the most voracious software users,” adding, “They report installing 55 percent more programs of all types on their computers than do non-pirates. This gives them an outsized impact on the global piracy rate.” A discrepancy between emerging and established markets was also noted, to where users in developing economies install roughly 4 times more illegal software than those users of the 1st world.

    The BSA, which is aligned with Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, is calling for stiffer fines for software pirates, and jail time. Right on. I wonder if they will call for the arrest of a large portion of the world’s population, along the same lines as the RIAA, when it asked for close to all of the money in the world from Limewire.

  • Tech Giants Back Off of SOPA Support

    Last week, a consortium consisting of Adobe, Apple, Dell, and Microsoft — to name a few of the well known members — offered their support of SOPA, under the guise of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). After companies like Google and Mozilla had spoken out against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), it was surprising to see companies like Apple and Microsoft side with the government on this particular subject.

    There are 29 members of the BSA, most of which are well known among those who follow the tech industry. Aside from the four indicated above, other companies include Intel, Symantec, McAfee, and Corel. However, the reason Apple and Microsoft are the focus is because they are two of the most well known companies in the world, and their initial support of SOPA was all the more dumbfounding. Apparently, however, the backlash against this support has caused the BSA to reconsider its position in relation to SOPA, which led to the following blog post, featuring the following title:

    “SOPA Needs Work to Address Innovation Considerations”

    Essentially, the BSA backtracked, saying the Alliance supports the elimination of piracy, but that SOPA needs to be refined. The post in question was written by BSA President & CEO, Robert Holleyman. In it, Holleyman offers the adjusted position of the BSA:

    The idea behind SOPA, as Chairman Smith explained at last week’s hearing, is to remove pirates’ ability to profit from their theft. We think that is the right approach as long as it is done with a fine touch.

    Valid and important questions have been raised about the bill. It is intended to get at the worst of the worst offenders. As it now stands, however, it could sweep in more than just truly egregious actors. To fix this problem, definitions of who can be the subject of legal actions and what remedies are imposed must be tightened and narrowed. Due process, free speech, and privacy are rights cannot be compromised.

    Which is exactly the position many who oppose SOPA. It’s not that they are asking for permission to pirate. Instead, policing these actions does not need to be done with sacrificing the freedoms Holleyman discussed. Too bad the entertainment industry is too blinded by their pursuit of the bottom line to see how much the bill, largely influenced by these entities, attacks the ideas of privacy and due process.

    As long as that teenage girl down the street gets busted for downloading the new Twilight movie, all’s well. Unfortunately, SOPA doesn’t even work that way. Instead of going after the Twilight downloader, the bill goes after the site that hosted the torrent that facilitated the download.

    The BSA post winds itself up with the following:

    BSA has long stood against filtering or monitoring the Internet. All of these concerns should be duly considered and addressed.

    My question is, did the BSA not know SOPA included such stipulations when they offered their support? Better late than never, I guess.

  • U.S. Has Lowest Software Piracy Rate

    U.S. Has Lowest Software Piracy Rate

    The rate of global software piracy rose to 43 percent in 2009, a two percent increase from 2008 driven primarily by expanding PC sales in emerging markets, according to the seventh annual Business Software Alliance/IDC Global Software Piracy Study.

    "Software theft exceeded $51 billion in commercial value in 2009. The public and private sectors need to join forces to more effectively combat an epidemic that stifles innovation and impairs economies on a global scale," said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman.

    A 43 percent piracy rate means that for every $100 worth of legitimate software sold in 2009, an additional $75 worth of unlicensed software also made its way into the market.

    Software-Piracy

    "Software theft hurts not just software companies and the IT sector, but also the broader economy at the local, regional and global levels by cutting out service and distribution firms," said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC.

    "Lowering software piracy by just 10 percentage points during the next four years would create nearly 500,000 new jobs and pump $140 billion into ailing economies."

    In the United States, software piracy remained at 20 percent, the lowest level of software theft of any nation in the world. The study noted that given the size of the PC market, the commercial value of pirated software in the United States was $8.4 billion in 2009.

    Additional findings include:

    *Piracy rates increased in 19 global economies, up from 16 in 2008.
       

     *The factors driving up the global piracy rate include growth in the consumer PC base and in emerging markets – both segments with high piracy rates:
       

    *Globally, PC shipments to consumers rose 17 percent in 2009, while shipments to businesses, governments and schools dropped 15 percent.
       

    *The PC markets in Brazil, India and China accounted for 86 percent of the growth in PC shipments worldwide.
       

    *For every dollar of legitimate software sold, another $3-4 in revenue is created for local firms.
       

    *China saw the largest increase in the commercial value of pirated software of any country – growing $900 million to $7.6 billion.
       

    *India, Chile and Canada each saw the greatest improvement in reducing software theft, each achieving a 3 percentage point decline in their piracy rates in 2009.

    "Given the economy, 2009 piracy rates are better than we expected. But incremental improvements are not enough. Few if any industries could withstand the theft of $51 billion worth of their products. To foster innovation and maximize the economic impact of the IT industry, governments must act – particularly those in fast-growing, high-piracy countries," said Holleyman.