Consumers, Crime and the Downloading of Music

In the last two decades, the industry has deployed endlessly the rhetoric of the “digital threat” in order to demand harsher measures against digital piracy. Recently, the “digital threat” discourse called for enhanced liability of online intermediaries, especially those whose platforms may be used to infringe copyright. This short paper shows that the “digital threat” discourse is based on shaky grounds. Two related arguments might run against this approach. First, market conditions might incentivise piracy. Additionally, there are raising doubts over the argument that piracy is a threat to creativity, especially in the digital environment. Overall, it may be hard to find a factual justification for policy decisions based on the “digital threat” discourse. In fact, digital technology seems not to have negatively affected the creation of new works. In contrast, an observation of the literature and quantitative analysis on point may suggest that digital piracy can be an opportunity for the cultural market. Finally, piracy may function as an innovation policy by forcing market players to innovate in response to a consumer demand that widespread piracy highlights.

Quaderno ASK 1.2012, 2012

Internet Policy Review

In the last two decades, the industry has deployed endlessly the rhetoric of the "digital threat" in order to demand harsher measures against digital piracy. Recently, the "digital threat" discourse called for enhanced liability of online intermediaries, especially those whose platforms may be used to infringe copyright. This short paper shows that the "digital threat" discourse is based on shaky grounds. Two related arguments might run against this approach. First, market conditions might incentivise piracy. Additionally, there are raising doubts over the argument that piracy is a threat to creativity, especially in the digital environment. Overall, it may be hard to find a factual justification for policy decisions based on the "digital threat" discourse. In fact, digital technology seems not to have negatively affected the creation of new works. In contrast, an observation of the literature and quantitative analysis on point may suggest that digital piracy can be an opportunity for the cultural market. Finally, piracy may function as an innovation policy by forcing market players to innovate in response to a consumer demand that widespread piracy highlights.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

The advent of the Internet poses fundamental changes in social norms, politics and economics in society. The belief in cyber anarchy; "do not touch the Internet" mantra, has fundamentally altered the understanding of copyright laws amongst the present generation. Subsequently an aversion for property rights, as understood by well established copyright laws has, developed manifesting itself mainly through piracy. The evolution of technology in tandem with the Internet has further exacerbated the situation as a whole, generations that enjoy entertainment find it much easier to infringe on a litany of copyright laws. Taking into account the established norms of property or copyright protection, is it not clear, with growing copyright malcontents and malfeasance, that we are simply producing a global generation of copyright criminals. This discourse explores the veracity of this statement by taking into account the nature of the Internet, the emergence of digital copying and sharing, alongside the fluid perceptions of copyright protection.

Aslib Proceedings, 2010

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to summarise and evaluate the literature on digital consumer behaviour and attitudes towards digital piracy. Design/methodology/approach -The paper presents a review and synthesis of the academic literature on the subject, using the authors' unique "pro-forma" approach to the evaluation of individual papers. Findings -A major limitation in the studies reported became apparent. They are almost exclusively concerned with the behaviours and attitudes of young people. There is a dearth of studies looking at demographic differences, and also a lack of longitudinal work. Given these constraints, the literature strongly suggests that social and situational factors impact on the likelihood of illegally obtaining digital content more than ethical considerations. Anonymity is a strong indicator, "de-individualising" people and releasing them from traditional societal constraints and making the digital world far different from the physical one. The literature is ambiguous on whether punishment acts as a deterrent. Practical implications -The main point that comes out of these studies is that the digital world is not the same as the physical world. It is changing basic assumptions about the idea of ownership, sharing, and copying content. Laws prohibiting all unauthorised downloading potentially criminalise millions of people, so new and creative business models are needed to resolve the problem. Originality/value -The authors believe this to be the first systematic review of current literature in this area since the issue became topical with the Pirate Bay trial and the Government's Digital Britain report.

Copyright infringement has long been a concern in the business world as well as a topic of academic research. Internet piracy is a contemporary form of copyright infringement and illegal copying of content. This topic is controversial in New Zealand as the Parliament passed the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act in April 2011, going into effect in September 2011. Proponents of this government regulation expect the changing of attitudes and the decrease of illegal downloading while opponents and critics are disappointed either with what they see as interference in users' freedom to share or with what they think will be unsuccessful in addressing the problem of copyright infringement. Ethics research on illegal downloading has analysed norms and attitudes, for example, the studies by Wang and McClung (2010), LaRose et al (2005), which surveyed tertiary students in the USA. Tertiary students are an important group because they usually possess computer skills to searc...

Is digital piracy – understood as illegally accessing or using copyrighted works, such as through a file-sharing platform – morally wrong? Such piracy typically falls into the intriguing category of self-interested lawbreaking, performed deliberately and in the context of a principled disagreement with the law. Existing treatments of the ethics of piracy fail to consider the full sweep of moral considerations implicated by such lawbreaking, collapsing the question into deceptively narrow enquiries. I argue there are many reasons, some stemming from quite surprising sources, for respecting copyright law, even for those who: think the law is unjust; are skeptical of the law’s democratic legitimacy; and are frustrated at the immoral behavior of large corporate content-providers.

With illegal downloading at the centre of debates about the creative economy, various policy initiatives and regulatory attempts have tried (and largely failed) to control, persuade and punish users into adhering to copyright law. Rights holders, policymakers, intermediaries and users each circulate and maintain particular attitudes about appropriate uses of digital media. This article maps the failure of regulation to control user behaviour, considers various policy and academic research approaches to understanding users, and introduces an analytical framework that reevaluates user resistance as expressions of legitimate justifications. A democratic copyright policymaking process must accommodate the modes of justification offered by users to allow copyright law to reconnect with the public interest goals at its foundation.

forthcoming in Jennifer Holt & Kevin Sanson (eds.), Connected Viewing: Sharing, Selling, and Streaming Media in the Digital Era (New York/London: Routledge, 2013)

… : The International Journal …, 2012

This article analyses current trends in the use of anonymity services among younger Swedes (15-25 years old) and focuses on individuals engaging in illegal file sharing in order to better understand the rationale behind both file sharing as well as online anonymity, especially in relation to enforcement of copyright. By comparing the findings of a survey conducted on three occasions (early 2009, late 2009 and early 2012), we measure the fluctuations in the use of anonymity services among approximately 1000 15-25-year-olds in Sweden, compare them with file sharing frequencies and, to some extent, trends within legal enforcement. The article also suggests that the key to understanding any relationship between copyright enforcement and fluctuations in online anonymity can be found in the law's relationship to social norms in terms of legitimacy by showing a correlation between file sharing frequency and the use of anonymity services. The findings indicate that larger proportions of frequent file sharers (downloaders) also use anonymity services more often than those who file share less. However, in comparison to the earlier surveys, the strongest increase in the use of anonymity services is found in the groups where file sharing is less frequent, suggesting that reasons for actively making oneself less traceable online other than avoiding copyright enforcement have emerged since the initial two surveys in 2009. Further, the overall increase (from 8.6 per cent to 14.9 per cent) in using anonymity services found for the whole group of respondents suggests both that high file sharing frequency is a driver for less traceability, as well as a larger trend for online anonymity relating to factors other than mere file sharing of copyright infringing content -for example, increased governmental identification, data retention and surveillance in the online environment. The results are analysed in Merton's terminology as file sharers and protocol architects adapting in terms of both innovation and rebellion in the sense that institutional means for achieving specific Downloaded from cultural goals are rejected. This means, to some extent, participating in or contributing to the construction of other means for reaching cultural goals.