Boy Scouts Bully Hacker Scouts Into Submission

b1tbkt writes "Youth-focused Maker organization 'Hacker Scouts' has announced their decision to surrender their name due to bullying by the Boy Scouts of America. It appears that BSA has interpreted their federal charter to include a claim on any and all use of the term 'Scout' in an organization's name. The litmus test for such a claim, so far as I'm aware, is the likelihood of causing confusion. The term 'Scout' is sufficiently generic, though, and by this reasoning most every airline in the world would need to eliminate 'Airlines' from their name."

Re:I'm shocked

[Quantus347]

Wow, bullying, in the boy scouts? I'm utterly shocked. Who would have though an organization full of teenage asshole testosterone pumps would be susceptible to bullying?

Just because the national management is regrettably old-fashioned and very very conservative does not mean the youth themselves are assholes. At that age they more often actually live up to the public Ideals.

Re:No

[h4rr4r]

You mean trademark law.
Copyright law has no such provision.

Re:what about girl scouts?

[Attila Dimedici]

The Girl Scouts of America were founded as a sister organization to Boy Scouts of America. That is, at one time they were two separate arms of the same organization (at least in a de facto sense if not a de jure one).

Re:Bullying?

[geek]

I always know when Soulskill is posting articles because they are nothing more than inflamatory bullshit.

Re:No

[Anonymous Coward]

Girl Scouts is not a competing organization due to the 1) gender bias of the respective organizations 2) the biologically bifurcated gender system that we all come from* 3) Each organization already formally recognizes the other as non-competing entities (see #'s 1 & 2).

* I am talking about most of society - not the small number of exceptions nor folks that think they are exceptions.

As for the origins of the GS and BS... The Girl Scouts / Girl Guides, the parent worldwide organization of the GSA were formed by Agnes Baden-Powell. Wife of Robert Baden-Powell. The founder of the Boy Scouts, and subsequently BSA.

Both were formed at roughly the same time. BS 1909, GS 1910.

Re:I'm shocked

[daveywest]

I know I'm replying to a troll, but the BSA has done tons to curb abuse and bullying. Youth Protection Training is the only instructional course leaders are required to complete prior to contact with any boys. It's freely available for anyone to take at myscouting.org, and must be renewed every 24 months. There have been coverups in the past, but the modern scouts have gone above and beyond to "think of the children."

Re:No

[rolfwind]

Learn some history, BSA lobbied for a charter from Congress specifically to get the competition out of business:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America#Federally_chartered_corporation [wikipedia.org]

Paul Sleman, Colin H. Livingstone, Ernest S. Martin and James E. West successfully lobbied Congress for a federal charter for the BSA–partly as a way to deal with competition from the Lone Scouts of America,[24] which President Woodrow Wilson signed on June 15, 1916

Good old capitalism, when you can't deal with competition, you bribe, er, "lobby" various legislative/government officials to put them out of business.

The BSA is not some poor group that is "forced" to do anything here by big bad government copyright law.

Re:Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

Girl Scouts has not had the same sort of homophobic and religious policies that boy scouts does. They figured it out years ago before it became an issue

Re:Well...

[varmfskii]

I don't know where you get this Christian crap. I was active in the BSA from 1975 until 1995 as both a youth and an adult. While it has always been clear that they support the belief that religion was important for good citizenship, I never saw any indications of an implication toward specifically Christian. The Synagogue that sponsor scout troops would also be rather surprised about this. I know that the books on religion included a number of non-Christian religious medals.