Rap around services

Incongruous hip-hop/IT industry tie-in #1: I was utterly unperturbed to learn this week that the Software and Information Industry Association has revamped popular 1990s anti-piracy campaign Don't Copy That Floppy and is taking the message to the kids. Word.

Don't Copy That 2 is, according to its makers, "a fun-to-watch rap music video" designed to educate students in the US about the dangers of digital piracy. Righty-ho. It features pretend rapper DC Double Def DP reminding today's young folk that sharing hooky files "is not just a copy - it's a crime".

And, in the context of being a pretend hip-hop video about the evils of online piracy (a crowded field, I know) it's not half bad. The production values are impressively high and Double Def's flow is tight (as I believe the Kazaa-crazy youngsters might say).

The vid even comes with lesson plans to help engage schoolkids in the exciting world of not downloading stuff.

Sounds good, but I can't help but wonder if teenage piracy is the lesser of two evils. If, during my younger days, I'd been able to download the new Metal Gear Solid days after its release,

I bet I wouldn't have spent so many evenings gathering behind Dagenham Heathway station for eight pints of Babycham and a ruck.