Ridicule, Scare Tactics, and Piracy on Campus

More than logic, more than emotional appeal and more than fear of punishment, there’s nothing like ridicule to kill an idea. People fear looking stupid in many cases more than they fear consequences – after all, you could go down as a martyr. And where’s the fun in that for the status quo power? It looks like the RIAA has picked up on this concept with a new set of posters being put up in campus dorms claiming that copyright violations will make you look stupid (click on images for larger version).

And of course, if that doesn’t work, there’s always good old-fashioned scare tactics. Apparently the gallows await foolhardy filesharers.