Anti Piracy Laws and Lawsuits Fail to Change Social Norms
Written by Ernesto on October 27, 2009New laws designed to thwart illicit file-sharing have been drafted by governments all over the world recently. At the same time the entertainment industries have claimed victories against individual file-sharers and operators of BitTorrent sites. Interestingly, these developments haven’t changed social norms towards piracy which makes it hard to maintain compliance.
In the first months of 2009, the RIAA won two major cases against file-sharers and were awarded damages worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another success for the music (and movie) studios came in April when the people behind The Pirate Bay were sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to pay hefty fines.
However, those who thought that these landmark cases would change public opinion towards file-sharing are wrong. In fact, not even the draconian anti-piracy legislation that went into effect in Sweden this spring could change social norms towards downloading movies and music without the permission of copyright holders.
These findings are the result of the Cyber Norms sociological research project carried out by Swedish researchers. They conducted survey interviews among 1,000 people between the ages of 15 and 25 to measure the strength of the social norms towards illegal file sharing. The aim was to find out whether the newly implemented anti-piracy legislation (IPRED) had been successful in reducing the gap between legal and social standards.
The findings of the surveys show that despite stronger anti-piracy legislation, the attitudes of young Swedes towards piracy haven’t changed.
“Despite the intensive efforts of the government during the six-month performance period, social support for copyright law in relation to file sharing is still at a record low. Young people in the survey do not feel any social pressure to refrain from interchange, whether from adults or peers,” researcher Måns Svensson comments.
Interestingly, the new law does seem to have an effect on the file-sharing habits of the younger Swedes. The percentage of people who say they don’t download any files illegally has increased from 22 percent in February to 39 percent in September. However, as the norms do not reflect the letter of the law it will be hard to maintain compliance, which could result in an increase in piracy in the months to come if people feel less threatened by possible punishments.
“In cases where the law is not supported by the social norms, it makes it extremely difficult to maintain compliance. Humans tend to follow social pressure rather than the letter of the law. With regard to intellectual property and copyright provisions, the Internet and file sharing technologies have created new conditions. In a short time, the social norms have developed in a direction that gives very little support of the law,” Svensson explained.
The study emphasizes that the law does not reflect what the general public considers to be legal, fair use, or even moral. Most people don’t feel that they’re doing anything wrong when they download an MP3 or share a movie, often because the legal alternatives are hard to find, full of DRM or simply overpriced.
So, as long as the entertainment industries fail to innovate and offer some real competition to piracy, the social norms wont change.
Previously: Sony CEO Pleads Poverty But The Movie Industry is Loaded
Next: Fresh Pirate Bay Purchase Attempt By Four Potential Buyers
59 Responses
Nice article Torrent Freak. It’s not surprising to see that the stricter the anti-piracy law, the more people are going to file-share. I wouldn’t call that “peer pressure”. I would call it, people not liking their freedom trampled on so they are sticking it to the “man”.
Thumbs up Torrent Freak. :)
Peer pressure is when you read the forums and see people screaming bloody murder when people don’t seed LoL
If I download something illegaly, it means I will NOT BUY IT.
So what do u do to avoid being caught ?
What services do u use?
Social acceptability and law are often in conflict. Drug laws are a good example.
The only thing Sweden’s new IPRED law should end up changing is HOW people download files. (Less Bittorrent, more Rapidshare.) There are many ways to download files other than P2P, and the amount of content on these risk-free direct-download-sites and usenet keeps growing.
What a surprise, they will never succeed…
It doesn’t really matter what kind of legislation will be introduced, because it’s impossible to catch or punish any significant percentage of P2P users cost-effectively.
Soon they will be embarrased when they notice the preventive measures cost a lot more than pirated material and it would be cheaper if the state simply paid for everything people pirate. Ironic, but will be true if this insanity doesn’t stop.
I am so glad I live in Canada and they havent managed to change the laws here, and even if they do, it isnt going to stop me from downloading movies from the torrent sites. I love owning a hacked modem.
As far as I am concerned they will never succeed in stopping people from downloading. If they didnt want people to do this, they should of never invented the technology to do so for example, CD/DVD Burners, or the software that makes it possible to rip CD’s and DVD’s. As long as the internet is alive and well, people arent going to quit Period !!!!
“Despite the intensive efforts of the government during the six-month performance period, social support for copyright law in relation to file sharing is still at a record low.”
I think “Despite” could better be changed to “Because of”; The more they try to enforce it trough their current means, the more people will loathe them for it.
I mean, Suing daycares and schools to pay for kids who will watch a (Legally bought!) DVD there isn’t the best way to get support. Similarly actions such as Warners on the front page alienate people who would normally have no opinion or perhaps even a positive opinion on copyright. And im not even talking about MPAA and RIAA antics for sueing teens, dead people, and people without internet
for amounts 100.000 more then any “loss”.
Either way, copyright enforcement is currently in an area which conflicts with a lot of social accepted standards. My sense of justice says that any fine should be fair. And ruining someone’s life with an impossible to repay debt is morally wrong – a stiff fine, sure. But not millions.
I think “Delving your own grave” fits the entertainment industry quite nicely.
Not even spies like copyright law right now LoL
Swede here, still not caught. Not worried either.
[quote]Most people don’t feel that they’re doing anything wrong when they download an MP3 or share a movie, often because the legal alternatives are hard to find, full of DRM or simply overpriced.[/quote]
Perfect example is Japanese / Korean drama and movies.
1/ Hard to find (legally)
2/ If you DO find them, they’re 2 to 3 times the price you would pay for a “normal” DVD in the west.
Oh well there’s no quote thingy it looks like lol
@13 Oct 28, 2009 at 00:51 by No-name
To proper quote something do this:
1. Type <blockquote>
2. Type your quote.
3. Type <\blockquote>
example:
<blockquote>LoL<\blockquote>
When I was going to school you could be expelled for allowing your hair to grow more than a quarter of an inch long.
I, for one, am not going back to those days. No one with some sort of ensignia on their arm will ever tell me what to do again. They didn’t then and they won’t now.
I will never stop downloading.
The people will never stop downloading.
We, the people, will never stop downloading.
And YOU will never stop us–ever again.
see ?
Now, where is my copy of uTorrent?
From Zero Paid
Both police and the country’s spy services, MI5 and MI6, are concerned that the proposal will mean more criminals will begin encrypting their traffic to escape detection by copyright holders, thereby making their job much, much more difficult
There they said it CRIMINALS
@14 Thank you.
@The other morons making fun of me
Can you blame someone from trying to use a quote on a blog comment for the first time? I’m sure you made the same mistake before, or didn’t even know the answer before someone else said it.
Sorry TorrentsBeak but the maffia will never win and neither will you or your friends reasoned-neo that is if you arent both of them with a new name. I wont stop downloading nor will I admit to being a “thief” because I am not and have not done anything wrong nor has anyone else who is a filesharer here. Its not “stealing” and that is that. Sorry but the truth hurts [for you that is].
i got a threatening letter from Media.com.
it said i would be sued and our internet service would be removed if i did not quit torrenting.
im wondering if i should be worried.
For as long as i can remember all my iTunes and dvd purchases were driven from illegal downloads. When will these retards comply with the 21st century and realise the massive opportunity here. Thats how i found out about all these f**king shows. I don’t watch TV, i don’t watch ads etc.
Jesus approves of this article! Meanwhile for every file downloaded, a kitten dies you satanic criminals.
I am only buying used movies now so hollywood will not get a dime of my money.
@20
Don’t sweat it,I have in-fact made the very same mistake, using old HTML that normally just “works”..LoL, but as you did, I found out it just doesn’t on this board…
And yes *Thanks to #14 for the lesson..
On-Topic,
I find that its not real popular to go around telling everybody you meet that you are a P2P supporter, or a Pirate, or that you are into file sharing…
How do I find this?, because I do it and allot of the first hand reactions I get are not “favorable”
It’s kinda funny because it is even possible to get into a debate with another file sharer what the proper term would be,( as I have indeed done just today in-fact) Some do not like to be called Pirates, they prefer File Sharer and are quite ridged on this point….
Whatever you call it, we are doing the very same things, Torrenting files and Seeding them back.. Not all of those files are illegal, but I would dare say that the percentage of them that are is much larger than aren’t…
But to cut all of this short, the statement regarding “Social Pressure” having anything to do with whether or not we “File-Share” really has nothing to do with it.. Ppl will download in the privacy of their own homes with no one around at all to pressure them one way or the other, and if it isnt “socially acceptable” then they simply wont talk about it …
On a side note..
Although I can see the fun in “playing with the trolls” im thinking you people have bitten off more than you can chew with “Torrentzbeak” after reading through her replies I would venture to say that arguing is something she really enjoys and none of you that begin will ever have the last word..LoL..
But please continue, it is entertaining…
I actually like the idea suggested by Sean Adams on BBC:
“Instead of cutting people off the internet, I’d much rather they sent the worst offenders into studios for a week to do community service to understand exactly what goes into the process of making music.
I don’t think for a second they’d consider not paying something towards the creation of that content.”
what is this i have 164 news how do you know my name
Unfortunately, without any changes to the way these companies operate, the internet spells doom for the entertainment industry. Filesharing will only become more popular, and every time they try to stop it, pirates will find another way that is harder to track.
And the days are fast disappearing when not many people are good enough with computers to use torrents. The children and teens of today know computers as well (or better) as some computer techs.
So they (studios) have two options:
1: Find a way to disconnect the internet. (not likely)
2: Find a way to monetize free.
They will have to find a truly original, innovative way to to this. Excessive advertising will turn people off, and any sort of fee will send many people right back to isoHunt.
Step 1: Eliminate yesterday’s expenses.
“Old media” promotion: Trailers on TV can go. Enough free exposure can be gained on P2P networks, news sites, and elsewhere, that there is no need to spend much promoting a movie, album, or game.
Physical media: Most movie theaters use tapes, as do many radio stations. CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are sold and rented everywhere we look. It’s expensive and wasteful. Going digital cuts costs, helps the environment, and competes better with digital filesharing.
2: Make money in a free world.
-NC: The Creative Commons Noncommercal Attribution Sharealike License, and it’s Noderivative counterpart, are often overlooked licenses that allow for sharing, while not allowing commercial use without rights, which can be sold.
Personal use only: My next point will explain the uses for this, but basically this would prohibit use of a work by anyone but a private person without permission, not even an origination.
Release groups: Pay to play.
What if people like axxo and the well-known release groups were bidding on rights to release the next feature film first? This would create an amazing new market, where ad-funded torrent sites and release groups would pay for exclusives, and compete for the best quality, timely releases, and fast downloads. This would cut costs for the studios, since all they would have to do to distribute something via their website would be to link to the “Starred” (and well paying, I might add) torrenter.
Movie theaters, radio stations, and such would pay for their rights as always, but maybe with lower prices.
The above is only one set of hundreds of ways the entertainment industry to beat illegal filesharing and survive.
@3 by Dan
“If I download something illegaly, it means I will NOT BUY IT.”
Reasoned Mind,
You wrote this already.
You are no paid for bringing back your old posts from others stories.
You have to post something new and credible.
Your supervisor.
A new law or a justice decision is invalid and is not enforceable unless there is a consensus.
There is no consensus about the legal garbage the corporations of parasites dropped on our societies.
The consensus is that these toxic corporations shall be destroyed and therefore this will hapen.
in response to Reasoned’s point –
“Pay to play.”
This paid for advantage would last 30 minutes at most until someone finished downloading it and re-up’d it elsewhere.
The only way the entertainment industry can make money off this is to team up with ISPs.
Double the fees we pay each month (at least) and then redistribute that money back to the studios based on download charts from from tpb demonoid iso etc. Maybe then studios could concentrate on making good shows rather than pure dross to fill hours of TV (bb)
The point of access is the only place they can feasibly charge and i for one would be happy to pay twice my isp fee for unlimited downloads.
Alt idea – in the uk we all pay a tv licence fee to pay for the BBC which is well worth it, how about a similar internet one off payment each year of around £100 – $200 per house if you’re online.
Maybe if studios stoppped paying actors insane amounts of cash to do jobs they always say are “the best in the world and would do for free” it would cut costs. Ever see a nurse with a nicer house than a half known tv actor?
Musicians btw get f-all. They can tour if they want cash and put in a decent days work rather than working 1 month a year writing and recording.
oh as for the idea mentioned about a pennance of having to work in a tv or music studio if you’re caught… ppl would be lining up outside the police station with screen shots of their torrents, all going “pls pls let me into the biz”
Bah. Point of access payment. Nothing else is feasible.
last quick point – does anyone know the breakdown of where the cash from a new dvd goes to? How much of that $20 is shipping, how much manufacturing. How much is going back to cover the costs of production and how much is wasted on all the stuff downloading removes (disc, box, lorry, plane, shelf stacking, till guy etc etc)
Downloading is the enviromentally friendly option for sure. Can we get greenpeace on ou side?!
The days of hard media are numbered!
it should be download Tuesday not DVD Tuesday. I agree that downloading will never stop and the industry needs a whole new paradigm shift.
At one time in the history of man those who ruled, ruled by force. Now the masses are ruled by money. Money has bought all the ridiculous copyright and and anti-piracy laws not the will of the people.
Copyright law is about protecting corporate greed not individuals. the bulk of the money made by copyright holders is not by individuals but by corporations that bought the rights that last far longer than the lives of the creators.
A major worldwide revolution is at hand. The economy in the Us is crashing at an alarming rate. The masses must stand up for what we want. In this forum it means faster internet not throttled by business we should have 10 times the current speed we have. We should have cheep internet there is no cost basis for what an isp charges, they charge what they can get away with. And finally we should be able to download freely anything. TV can into our homes free for years and now the computer and internet has expanded out choices.
“Personal use only: My next point will explain the uses for this, but basically this would prohibit use of a work by anyone but a private person without permission, not even an origination.”
This is a very bad idea. In fact, this is what the modern copyright is. Allowing people to use something only for “personal” use is destroying community. Things like music, for example, are social in nature, they cannot be limited to “personal use”.
Hardly surprising considering the survey’s entire sample was located in sweden, a country who has let torrents and technology screw up their moral compass beyond recognition. Also, how many people have actually been put behind bars as a result of these victories? My guess is none. If someone were to get jail time, it would resonate much more within the pirate community and send a much clearer signal.
The industry should NOT give in to the pressure from piracy. If they were to somehow try to adapt to it (they are the ones being stolen from.. why should they change?), it would send a clear message that the internet can change social order however it sees fit. This is nothing more than a power trip. People who don’t spend enough time in the real world and are thus under the impression that they can influence the real world with their online activities. One might almost call it delusions of grandeur. Pirates romanticize theft because at the end of the day, they can’t accept the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, their actions will amount to nothing more than a little criminal activity. They want to think that they can change the whole world.
The solution is easy. Reform laws to make it clear that torrents or any other system that enables downloading of copyrighted material is illegal (this is already the case in most countries.) Give people who run illegal torrent sites jail time.
Those Blu-Ray discs cost to darned much. No wonder people are looking for alternatives.
I get you, poster.
http://www.digistor.com/Digistor-External-Blu-ray-Burner-USB-2-0-Slot-Load
This is news because?
I mean the big corporates still are living in the stone age regarding internet, globalising and modern times coupled with copyright.
They just don’t get it. Instead of inventing new model business for the modern internet age, they still waste hundreds thousands of hours of manpower to go after copyright infringers.
Failcorporate is fail!
The movie companies are not going to give away the stuff they spend millions of dollars on for free FACT, advertising is no way near going to cover the cost, I help run a small tracker and we receive donations, but barely enough to keep the site running.
Also….”SAW VI – IMAGINE LEGAL CAM”
@36 Oct 28, 2009 at 09:52 by .neo.styles|nvDX:
I agree people online have no power and can’t change nothing in the real world. Their actions online means nothing and that just prove that some people are idiots for going after the online community LoL
Can you imagine when people start “stealing” others peoples faces?
I think everybody should make a model of ttheir heads and send a paper version to congress to show them the real faces of pirates LoL
Video-On-Demand Now 27% Of Internet Traffic: Study
Peer-to-Peer usage falls to 20% of total, vs. 32% in 2008
http://webcast.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=883568
Study: Piracy Impacted By Price, Punishment and Morality
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7d72e67f57c9816984798c2319cdba47
A new study finds three things have a negative impact on the likelihood a person will obtain a song illegally: willingness to pay; perceived likeliness of facing a lawsuit; and morality. Marc F. Bellemere of Duke University and Andrew M. Holmberg of the Department of Justice presented their findings in a working paper titled “The Determinants of Music Piracy in a Sample of College Students.” (44-page PDF)
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1481272
@35
Hey, I’m just being the devil’s advocate. If I was my own advocate, copyright could only extend to using a work for profit, and would only last for part of the author’s life, as an often overlooked part of the constitution here in the U.S. says.
And you’re wrong, in current copyright, even personal use is prohibited (in most countries anyway). I find -NC to be the best option for licensing, but some would want as much restriction as possible.
I’m 61 and on a disablement pension (no I’m not looking for sympathy). Even If I could go out to the cinema ( Public transport stops at 6PM in my area) I would have to spend a day’s food money to see a film that MAYBE I would enjoy – very far and in-between these days) so I download what I want to see, but when the download is finished I leave my computer on for at least 48Hrs to enable people like myself have the enjoyment of the download. Am I ’stealing’? I don’t think so as I’m paying the electricity bill for leaving my ‘puter on so others can benefit who otherwise, as me , cannot afford the ridiculous prices charged for cinema tickets.
So all you pro-Studio idiots please remember it cost us to ’share’ but at least the money is well spent.
“And you’re wrong, in current copyright, even personal use is prohibited (in most countries anyway).”
Hm. Really? Interesting. Why would they do that?
Anyway, on most cds they do license the work for personal use only, so I was referring to that.
I hope they will fail forever!
Only a very small minorty of the people of the world benefits from those laws and lawsuits.
Yes, they fail. Go chase the people that sell illegal copies on the streets. Those are the real thieves.
I will buy when you make it available for sane prices. If, in worst case, the world changes into a Big Brother thing I’ll just stop consuming media related stuff. Simple as that. You don’t buy what you don’t know.
to paul (32),
at what point is the british tv licence worth it? i pay mine and get nothing but kak. we are forced into paying for something that i for one don’t use. i should have the option to bail. the way i see it, it should be like sky – you pay for what you use.
This is just like the war on drugs in particular pot.The more you push and pull ones rights,the more people in nature will rebel.Media attention also drives people into doing it out of curiousness and then get hooked. Until the outdated copyright laws sway more in the normal peoples favor this will (and maybe forever)be the norm. Its like trying to cut the head off the Hydra,cut one off 10 will spout out from the cut.
Hey guys, do you like dating with a cougar? Or are you a cougar yourself? Okay, no matter you are looking for a NSA, FWB or serious relationship. You’ll want to check this out:
**== Matchcougar.C-o-m ==**
The more they fight us, the more people are likely to empower (with their CPU/bandwidth resources) a network that provides true anonymity and strong encryption.
They won’t know who is a proxy (mere conduit) and who is the source of content and users won’t know the content, true source and final destination of the packets they are routing.
They’re giving us no choice.
I don’t see any sign that Hollywood or music companies are in any danger at all.. But even if they were:
Who cares if a few Hollywood studios and music companies go bust?
Hopefully that will stop the brain dead, commercialised entertainment that prevails at the moment.
Indie music and films would become the norm. People would be mentally challenged instead of lulled into compacency.
Even succesful and talented musicians / actors would lead reasonably normal lives instead of living in disgusting oppulence (which kills them in many cases, and does not make them happy anyway.)
Less dumbed-down, propagandistic films would be GOOD for the world.
I don’t see any sign that Hollywood or music companies are in any danger at all.. But even if they were:
Who cares if a few Hollywood studios and music companies go bust?
Hopefully that will stop the brain dead, commercialised entertainment that prevails at the moment.
Indie music and films would become the norm. People would be mentally challenged instead of lulled into compacency.
Even succesful and talented musicians / actors would lead reasonably normal lives instead of living in disgusting oppulence (which kills them in many cases, and does not make them happy anyway.)
Less dumbed-down, propagandistic films would be GOOD for the world.
@ doomlanger
The bbc creates extreme views either you love it or you hate it and it’s hard to alter someone’s perception of it.
off the top of my head i love the bbc becos of the following
Local news
which ITN no longer do
Lack of adverts (i don’t feel invaded whilst relaxing)
World service
helping people world wide get a fair and balanced view of the news.
Programming for all
every taste and minority is catered for – i personally loathe radio one and never listen to half the radio stations, rarely watch bbc3 or 4 and think eastenders is utter tripe. then i look at the “range of programming on ITV and channels 4 & 5. The BBC is about yearning to be something greater, helping forge bonds of community and connection between us. Yes the licence fee grows and grows, but their quality and the value for money cannot be discounted. Their output is HUGE over the 4 channels and god knows how many radio stations, websites etc.
Creative Risks & New Talent.
With no advertisers to obey or demographics to hunt, the bbc allows riskier programs to be made and highbrow programs to be aired. They may not be to everyone’s taste, but its a good thing that they happen.
The BBC has shed loads of problems and is a huge beast just like the NHS but like the health service its a common good paid for by all which benefits everyone in a myriad of ways.
I don’t WANT tv to be filled with constant big brother and ross kemp’s gang bullshit or whatever. I had sky and i like it, but 80% of their air time is pure dross.
Also with sky you don’t “get what you pay for” you pay fora package not for each seperate channel, which was the main reason I stopped getting it. I didn’t WANT sky 2 or sky 3, but I was and I was paying for them. I didn’t want half the channels I receieved.
As i say you either believe in the bbc or you don’t. I think it shows a way of monetising “free” in a way which doesn’t involve rolling banner ads on all tv shows which is the place we’ll be left in at this rate.
ok new thought – we all just sit around and bitch about all of this. I’m just the same. Lots of people think the way we do, that file sharing is a great thing, but we all just sit around and say sony et al have to find a way to make it pay for them. There’s lots more of us than there is of them, who actually has any ideas out there of how this can go?
Why wait for some mythical solution from the very ppl we moan about as being blind to the true nature of the problem. We see time after time the advice they get and the decisions they make. How can any of them see whats actually happening on the ground? We’re all bright ppl, someone must have ideas of how this can work to everyones advantage.
Unfortunately most companies embody the pyramid structure of business instead of a more round out democratic model. Most of these people running todays companies don’t care about anything except profits, and they will sacrifice anything or anyone to get them.
Google: Ricardo Semler for more info on this.
Funny thing is, that most people who dont download pirated stuff dont even KNOW about piracy laws or even care. Its more know by US here on torrentfreak and people who are involved with piracy. Hell if it werent for me wanting to know, I wouldnt have any idea of the junk thats going on.I bet 3/4 of the people who use Utorrent are clueless as well. I dont think public opinion changes a whole lot over Piratebay being closed. Most people I talk to dont even know it exists. As if I would even ask.
Why does everyone keep calling file sharing “Piracy”? You should call it what it is, Market Correction…
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