Say hello to Arts+Labs, a group billing itself as a sex-ed class for the pitfalls of Internet piracy. The organization includes Viacom Inc., NBC Universal, Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems, the Songwriters Guild of America, and AT&T — you know, all the poor folks who die a little every time you even think about BitTorrent. The group is chaired by Mike McCurry, a former press secretary for Bill Clinton, and Mark McKinnon, a former media advisor for John McCain. Their sweetly naïve mission: to remind people how great paying for things can be — to "educate consumers and highlight innovations by media companies and Internet providers to make the Web a better place to legally get songs, movies and TV shows." Current plans revolve around a moderate biochemical attack that would institute widespread low-grade amnesia and, hopefully, cause everyone to forget how easy it is to get all that stuff for free.

Media, Technology Companies Unite to Fight Piracy [Reuters]