DESPERATE times call for desperate measures. In Los Angeles, where many thousands earn their corn from the movie and music industries, new troops have been recruited for the fight against CD and DVD copyright violators.

The latest brave soldiers sent into the trenches to fight internet pirates who are costing US entertainment industries some $20 billion a year in lost revenue? Boy scouts. The Marines must be busy elsewhere.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the organisation which represents film studios, has came up with a cunning plan. Because dire warnings, punitive fines and hysterical media campaigns haven't had much of an effect on the general public's attitude to illegal downloading, the MPAA has enlisted the help of the the Boy Scouts of America in Los Angeles.

Each one of the association's 52,000 scouts can earn a Respect Copyrights Activity Patch by learning about the perils of pirated movies and music and the importance of copyright. This patch, illustrated with a film reel, a CD and the copyright symbol, can go alongside the scout's other badges for dog care, insect study and railroading.

Scouts who wish to earn the patch will find out about how internet piracy impacts on the people who produce their favourite video games, movies and music. Before a patch is awarded, several tasks must be completed, including learning how to recognise counterfeit CDs and DVDs and creating a video or sketch emphasising the importance of copyright.

The idea was first tried out in Hong Kong, where boy scouts pledged not to use pirated materials and, furthermore, to turn in people they found using file-sharing sites and software. While the MPAA has said that they have no intention of turning scouts into snitches, they would obviously not object to 52,000 extra pairs of eyes doing their work for them in return for some sew-on badges.

It's not the strangest turn in the ongoing war against internet piracy (that's reserved for the various u-turns executed by record labels in the last few years), but it is close. Having always talked up the need to educate people about online and offline piracy, the entertainment industries are finally doing something about it.

It's a start, says MPAA big cheese Dan Glickman. "Working with the Boy Scouts, we have the opportunity to educate a new generation about how movies are made, why they are valuable and hopefully change attitudes about intellectual property theft."

It's also a far better idea than taking costly legal action against kids and their parents, as has happened several times since the record industry decided to crack down on illegal downloaders. And it could have more effect on young movie-goers than the heavy-handed trailers currently playing in theatres.

But it also indicates a shift in the blame report. Having spent a couple of years pointing the finger at new developments in technology for their woes, the finger-pointers have now realised they've well and truly lost that battle.

There is nothing that can be done to halt new advances in how the internet enables people to experience music and movies. The entertainment industries has also fouled up all attempts to keep the technology folk on their side.

All that can be done now is to turn this into an ethical issue.

Which is where the Boy Scouts come in, albeit with some interesting ethical issues of their own. While US scouts have worked closely with outside organisations before, co-operating with the MPAA is a whole different ball game from helping homeless charities and environmental bodies. Just as food and drink companies have invaded classrooms with sponsored textbooks and vending machines, scouting organisations may well find themselves in all kinds of future marketing spins.

Of course, it must be assumed that the various activities around earning a Respect Copyrights Activity Patch will feature all sides of the copyright question. What about those copyright holders who are quite happy to use file-sharing technology to publicise their work? The fees and terms which record labels and film studios force copyright holders to accept?

Lets hope the MPAA doesn't end up wishing that the scouts had stuck with woodcarving.