May 11, 2007
"Others Do It More" Drives Music Pirates
College students who swipe and share music online--despite the strenuous efforts of authorities to point out that it's illegal--do so not only because they believe that, morally, they are in the right, but also because they feel others are doing it even more. That's according to a study in the journal Cyberpsychology and Behavior.
Working to change those social assumptions, rather than threatening lawsuits or criminal charges, might do more to discourage such behavior, the report says. "The most effective strategy might be to convince heavy downloaders that their behavior is out of line with their peers," write Robert LaRose, of Michigan State University, and Junghyun Kim, of Kent State University.
Of course, light downloaders might learn from the same strategy that others are indeed worse than they are, and feel even more justified in their actions. --Josh Fischman
Posted on Friday May 11, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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Stealing is okay if you steal less than someone else? They are in the “right” to steal? If indeed some college students are working from those assumptions, then their parents, schools, and others in their lives failed them miserably.
Here’s a strategy. Remove their network access permanently on the first offense. Dismiss them from the institution on the second. The theft of an artist’s work is just as serious as the theft of anything else. It should be treated that way.
— Bill Schleifer May 14, 07:31 AM #
I agree that this is stealing and maybe, in this day and age, the institution owes its students an obligation to actually teach them something they can use immediately – Morales & Ethics (which seem to be in short supply): that because one CAN do something, doesn’t means it’s right TO DO that thing.
The schools provide the mechanisms and need to provide the lessons along with them. (Of course, one would like to think that parents have had an effect too but we know that peers trump parents nearly always.)
— Rob May 14, 08:06 AM #
College students live in a wider culture of flagrantly disobeying laws. In NY, they drive illegally while using hand-held cell phones, and even while texting. If students’ vehicular behavior serves as a behavioral model, they are used to driving over the speed limit (but less than others, of course), running red lights, parking illegally (in marked no-parking zones, in handicapped spaces, etc.). Since they know that they can disobey the laws without punishment, (even without a negative comment from anyone!), this behavior is carried over into all other areas of activity. These learned vehicular behaviors are reinforced by behaviors in other areas, where laws are constantly violated without the threat of punishment, in social arenas, in the academic world, in finance, and — indeed — in government. How does their behavior towards the piracy of music come as a surprise to anyone? This is what astonishes me!
— Richard May 14, 08:37 AM #
I think the degree to which the wider culture disregards basic traffic laws, which in most cases are at the discretion of the driver, is an excellent measure of how far we moved toward the moral position “It’s only wrong if I get caught.”
— Greg May 14, 09:38 AM #
Before we agonize and hand-wring over the Immorality of Today’s Youth,
perhaps we might look at the larger business community in the United States?
I’m not even talking about Enron and the like; I’m talking about the basics of “caveat emptor”:
When a student buys a piece of equipment that promises a $50 rebate (which she never receives), which then turns out to be flawed or faulty (and she can’t reach a real live person in the warranty department), and when her airline cancels her flight with a shoulder-shrug…
…well, she might very well realize that most corporations are not overly worried about ethics.
Very few of these “thieving” students would steal from another human being.
But corporations are largely “exempt” from basic morality in our society, for whatever reason.
Why should they then expect to recieve the benifits of ethical behavior?
To steal from thieves is still “stealing” , of course. But it is also a great deal less alarming.
— David May 14, 04:16 PM #
But, David, it is the artists and writers (lyricists) who also ultimately get ripped off by students acting as thieves. Are you calling them thieves also?
— Sandy May 17, 08:46 AM #
According to the students surveyed (...), downloading music had no negative effect on their plans to purchase CDs or sign up for online music services.
If you call filesharing stealing then I think there’s no way you can understand the next generations of this planet. Again, you can’t steal information because it is a non-rival and non-exclusive good.
The recording industry is the one who is stealing, stealing from musicians and from fans alike when it charges exorbitant prices for content whose value is almost zero.
— Miguel Caetano May 17, 11:20 AM #