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Chandler

Page history last edited by ted.coopman@... 11 years, 11 months ago

Title: Ethical Justification Behind Illegal Downloading

 

Research Question: How do students conceptualize the risk and ethical issues around illegally downloading music, movies and programs?

 

How you gathered your data, challenges you faced, things you learned about research (100-200 words max)

I gathered my data by using surveys and interviews.  I created a survey and posted it on Facebook numerous times over a time period of two weeks. I chose three close friends of mine that I knew illegally downloaded to interview. A huge challenge I faced was getting people to take my survey. I had to pressure people several times to take it. It was frustrating because the survey was only nine questions, yet people really didn’t want to take it. Because of this, I was 10 people short. What I learned about research it takes more time then I think. Although I’ve done research projects at this scale in the past, my scheduling is always off and I end up feeling rushed and stressed out. I also realized how rewarding the research process can be. When I write up my final paper, I always feel accomplished at the amount of data I’ve collected and organized. Next time, I will start early. That’s the most important thing I’ve learned about the research process. Starting too late makes the process stressful and un-enjoyable. It’s hard to fully explore your topic when you feel pressed for time. Despite being pressed for time, I’m still happy with the research I was able to gather.

 

 

Discussion

What I can conclusively say by looking at all the data I gathered, is that the majority of people justify illegal downloading by concluding that mainstream media companies such as iTunes and Netflix do not provide quality streaming at a reasonable price. Those who participated in my research feel that at the price they pay these companies, the streaming and download speed should be faster and more reliable. The majority of people said that if these major companies gave them more options with faster downloading, they would cease illegal downloading altogether. Most didn’t mind the presence of advertisements, but don’t like that they constantly interrupt the flow of the streaming. Leah, one of my interviewees, complained of Hulu Plus’s abominable buffer speed. “I honestly don’t mind the bombardment of advertisements during my shows if they didn’t slow down the buffering” she stated regarding Hulu Plus. Some feel that the government interference is justified only if mainstream media companies consistently uploaded their shows online at fair prices. “All I wanted was one episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but at 1.99 per show, I didn’t care how good the HD was, I found it for free instead of paying that ridiculous price” stated Cary, another one of my interviewees. Sinha and Mande’s (2008) theory that individuals desire quality in their music to avoid social embarrassment, is wrong because most individuals are willing to sacrifice quality in order to obtain the piece of media content they desire. Also, Sandulli and Martín-Barbero (2006) stating that mainstream music industries should provide better quality music tracks in order to get people to buy them, proves to be wrong as well. People simply aren’t willing to pay what they perceive to be a rip-off, HD quality or not. Most don’t care if the track is shoddy with bad audio quality, as long as they didn’t have to pay for it.

 

On the other hand, there was also a good amount of individuals who were extremely angry towards the government interference. They feel that the free flow of content is how the Internet should operate. Most view the Internet as a separate sphere from reality. They don’t consider it an illegal activity because it is done so virtually. Mirghani (2011) labeling the Internet as a cultural commodity was the majority’s attitude towards the Internet. She was also right in saying that people hide behind the mentality that they will never be singled out for illegal downloading and therefore will never be caught. Most stated that they sometimes worry about being caught, but took comfort in knowing that millions of other people did it too. The media campaigns against illegal downloading are effective in scaring the majority of individuals who see them. Yet most individuals aren’t scared enough to stop. This is attributed to the desensitization of illegal downloading that LaRose, R., Lai, Y., Lange, R., Love, B., Wu, Y. (2005) postulated. After the advertisement campaigns are out of sight, they fall right back into the mentality that they will never get caught and continue illegally downloading. “I’ve never seen a person be majorly busted for downloading a couple of illegal CDs. I guess that’s why I don’t take the warnings very seriously” Leena, one of my interviewees, said.  People have difficulty finding recent episodes of the shows they watch. They feel that major television networks, such as NBC and ABC should provide them with the new episode they air the next day. Danaher, Dhanasobhon, Smith, and Telang’s proposition that major networks should consistently and frequently provide their content online proved to be true, although I must incorporate the fact that most college students don’t have cable, which makes it difficult for them to legally obtain the aired episodes the next day.

 

Most individuals do like the feasibility of downloading free content onto their laptops and mobile devices. If they are at school, and one of their friends mentions a new CD that’s come out, they can easily look up the name of the album and download it instantly onto their laptop without any waiting. Hennig-Thurau, Henning, and Sattler (2007) six utilities, especially the mobile and social utility, became important in categorizing the responses I got. A lot of participants justified their illegal downloading by saying that it’s a social activity for them. They download their music or movies onto their phone and are able to share their content with their friends or family. Most individuals feel that big music and movie corporations will always make money and the continuation of free content will not hurt them in any major way. They will always be around regardless of how many people illegally download. Most of interviewees felt that a lof these artists have other business expenditures that they can fall back on if their record sales are affected by illegal downloading. For example, artists such as Katy Perry and Beyoncé have popular perfume lines.

 

 

* Danaher, B., Dhanasobhon, S., Smith, M. D., Telang, R. (2010). Converting pirates without cannibalizing purchasers: The impact of digital distribution on physical sales and Internet piracy. Marketing Science, 29, 1138-1151.

* Hennig-Thurau, T., Henning, V., Sattler, H. (2007). Consumer file sharing of motion pictures. Journal Of Marketing, 71, 1-18.

* LaRose, R., Lai, Y., Lange, R., Love, B., Wu, Y. (2005). Sharing or piracy? An exploration of downloading behavior. Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 1-21.

* Mirghani, S. (2011). The war on piracy: analyzing the discursive battles of corporate and government-sponsored anti-piracy media campaigns. Critical Studies In Media Communication, 28, 113-134.

* Sandulli, F. D., Martín-Barbero, S. (2006). 99 cents per song: A fair price for digital music? The effects of music industry strategies to raise the willingness to pay by P2P users. Journal Of Website Promotion 2, 3-15.

* Sinha, R., Mandel, N. (2008). Preventing digital music piracy: The carrot or the stick?. Journal Of Marketing, 72, 1-15.

 

Comments (17)

Laurel Marshall said

at 11:44 am on May 1, 2012

1. Is there another underlying appeal to free music/media?
2. What types of questions did you ask in your interviews?
3. Did the people you survey mention how much they download? Do some only occasionally download while others frequently download?
4. How does hiding behind technology influence people to participate in more downloading?

**Laurel Marshall

Jose Molina said

at 12:04 am on May 2, 2012

- Do you think that experiencing or seeing someone else get punished by the government because of this activity will lead to many to stop their downloading?
- What was the age range of the students? Do you think this concept of illegal downloading changes as the age goes up?
- Who/what do you think these students blame the most for their activities of illegal downloading?
- What are some of the results of your survey connecting it to the how much is downloaded, how often it’s downloaded, what is mainly bring downloaded, etc?

--Jose M.

Sofia Cruz said

at 4:24 pm on May 2, 2012

1. What made you want to study the topic of illegal downloading?
2. Do you feel illegal downloading is almost impossible to control and regulate? this is why its popular?
3. What was your interviewees' perspective on unfair prices of itunes/music downloading/etc?
4. Do you believe websites like youtube/pandora/etc. make it easy to influence people to NOT pay for music?
-Sofia

Tyler Gallau said

at 1:47 pm on May 3, 2012

1. Since you have stated that you often feel rushed when it comes to timeline, how can you prevent this in the future?
2. Why did you want to study this topic?
3. What was the most challenging part of doing your research?
4. What age group do you find downloads the most?

-Tyler

Alex Torres said

at 6:21 pm on May 9, 2012

Chandler

1. How would you change the data collection method if given the opportunity?
2. We live in a society full of labels, According to Marghani and his view of the Internet as a cultural commodity: what can we take from cultural and is it right?
3. What select groups if any would you say downloads more illegal movies?
4. Did you find any reasonable way of getting movies without having to pay for it? Please let us know….

Tania Berlinski said

at 6:23 pm on May 9, 2012

1. Did you find that some people justify illegal downloading because the songs they download can't be found for sale on iTunes, Amazon, etc.?
2. Did you find any research or sources that showed how illegal downloading financially affects the music industry?
3. Did any of your participants find illegal downloading to be ethically wrong (despite whether they did it or not)?
4. Did gender have an affect on how your participants felt about illegal downloading?

Alex Torres said

at 6:31 pm on May 9, 2012

Sorry about that Chandler after reading question # 2 over it doesn't make sense..lol rephrase What I meant was :

We live in a society full of labels, According to Marghani and his view of the Internet as a cultural commodity: Cultures change with history, what is right and what is wrong with downloading movies? I would like to know through the eyes of the computer users compared to the eyes of the gov... IDK if this makes any sense still lol

Mark Bateman said

at 7:26 pm on May 9, 2012

1. What made you choose this topic?
2. You said next time you'd start sooner, what other changes would you make in your research?
3. Do you illegally download music and other media? and if so what is your personal reason for doing so?
4. Do you feel that the people taking your survey or the people you interviewed would be 100% honest on a touchy topic like this?

Kim Calisesi said

at 9:13 pm on May 9, 2012

1. What made you want to research this topic?
2. Do you think that the people who do illegally download understand the repercussions that could come with it if they got caught?
3. What was the age group of your participants?
4. Did you find a majority of males or females who illegally downloaded?

-Kim

Chaz Guerrero said

at 11:44 pm on May 9, 2012

1) What made you choose this topic?
2) How do you feel about illegal downloading?
3) People have to pay huge fines for illegal downloading do you feel that its ethical to punish people so bad for downloading music?
4) What are the age groups of people you surveyed?
-Chaz

Michael Wilkerson said

at 12:05 am on May 10, 2012

1. What is your personal opinion on illegal downloading?
2. Are there any other changes that you would have made or wished you had done differently?
3. Why did this topic interest you?
4. What kind of questions did you ask in you interview?

Chris Valdez said

at 1:28 am on May 10, 2012

1. Do you think pirating is a trend that will continue forever?
2. Was gender a factor about pirating?
3. Would pirating be an issue if it was harder to access?
4. How can the government stop pirating?

maxbunag@gmail.com said

at 8:36 am on May 10, 2012

1. What could the music industry do to combat downloading?
2. How do you feel about illegal downloading?
3. What were the ages of people you surveyed?
4. Does gender or age play a role in the demographic of people who do download illegally?

dannah.sanchez said

at 9:43 am on May 10, 2012

1. Is there a correlation between downloading and gender? (ie. Did men download more than women?)
2. Did your participants download illegally using their mobile devices or did they prefer using desktops?
3. Did you ask which sites they torrented from?
4. Were there any variables you didn't expect to come up?

Brian Toback said

at 10:53 am on May 10, 2012

1 what made you choose this topic?
2 do you pirate music yourself?
3 did gender play any role in pirating?
4 what was the age group?

matt.collins209@... said

at 11:09 am on May 10, 2012

1) How much money is lost from illegal downloading?
2) Is there a correlation between downloading and a certain age group?
3) Do you download music yourself?
4) What did your interview responses conclude?

michael sheng said

at 11:32 am on May 10, 2012

1)What age group does the most downloads?
2) How much does the government regulate illegal downloading?
3) how much revenue does the record companies lose to illegal downloading?
4) what is the #1 reason people download illegally?

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