AfterDawn: Tech news

Study: Piracy is accepted practice in U.S., but casually

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2011 6:13 User comments (46)

Study: Piracy is accepted practice in U.S., but casually

According to a new survey, Americans seem to have made piracy an acceptable practice, although a very small amount can be considered "hardcore" pirates.
70 percent of 18-29-year-olds surveyed admitted to pirating music, TV or movies, but only 2 percent said they had pirated over 1000 music tracks and only 1 percent said they had downloaded over 100 episodes or movies.

Additionally, 67 percent of pirates also purchased legal content, via outlets like iTunes.

The research is from the report "Copy Culture in the US and Germany" although so far, only the American research has been released. The data is via a Princeton Survey Research Associates telephone poll of 2,303 American adults this summer.

Overall, 46 percent of those surveyed admitted to piracy but a significant portion said they now pirate less due to the launch of "more attractive legal services" like Netflix streaming.



Video game players with "modified consoles" came in at only 3 percent, and mainly Xbox 360 users.

Perhaps the most interesting part of study came when the question was asked whether pirates should be punished for their actions, with only 52 percent agreeing. When asked what kind of punishment, a simple warning led the way at 51 percent, with jail time bringing up the rear at 12 percent. For music pirates, an "acceptable" fine was overwhelmingly seen at $10 or less per track.

If any of this interests you, I implore you to read the full report here, it's worth it: The Copy Culture Survey: Infringement and Enforcement in the US

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46 user comments

117.11.2011 18:15

Safe to say, a lot of Afterdawners are the 1%

217.11.2011 18:32

I like how the fine of $10 per track is much more reasonable than people have been sued for. Also, piracy is one of the few crimes that you can talk with others about in a fairly public setting with little to no repercussions (while admitting that you partake in it).

317.11.2011 18:42

I think a lot of people look at piracy like speeding. Hey that's illegal too, but most people do it.

417.11.2011 19:13

It's kinda like asking someone if they look at porn.
No one admits to it, but it's the number one industry on the web.
SOMEONE is watching!

I don't think people see the casual downloading of a movie or a TV show as "pirating", or if they do, they don't think about it much.

To most people, what's the difference between watching something on Netflix or watching something from a Hard drive?
Even people who download stuff don't always understand what they are doing. Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)

The thing that amazes me about the movie and music pirate world is how much content is available, made by very competent people and made available quickly.

517.11.2011 19:43

Originally posted by ThePastor:

To most people, what's the difference between watching something on Netflix or watching something from a Hard drive?
Even people who download stuff don't always understand what they are doing. Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)

I disagree that torrents are the worst way to download. I know people who used limewire up until the end and are now using some other *wire software.

What is better than torrents? I think usenet is stupid. Why would someone pay to download pirated content?

This is all hypothetical of course.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Nov 2011 @ 7:47

617.11.2011 19:49

Originally posted by ThePastor:
It's kinda like asking someone if they look at porn.
No one admits to it, but it's the number one industry on the web.
SOMEONE is watching!

I don't think people see the casual downloading of a movie or a TV show as "pirating", or if they do, they don't think about it much.

To most people, what's the difference between watching something on Netflix or watching something from a Hard drive?
Even people who download stuff don't always understand what they are doing. Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)
why are torrents the absolute worst way to download? :/ when a new Linux distro is released its almost always on a torrent first even on the official distro websites.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Nov 2011 @ 7:49

717.11.2011 19:49

Originally posted by ThePastor:
To most people, what's the difference between watching something on Netflix or watching something from a Hard drive?
Even people who download stuff don't always understand what they are doing. Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)
Torrents are the worst way to download? Nooope. Much worse ways than torrents to download software or media... like via normal HTTP sites or some Limewire equivalent like the poster above me mentioned. Is there a reason you think that?

817.11.2011 20:16

Originally posted by DVDBack23:
Safe to say, a lot of Afterdawners are the 1%
Nah impossible, what is an avi / mp3 are those sex positions?! *grin*

917.11.2011 20:40

When US politicians voted to have themselves legally bribed (PACS) they set the example that became the rule.
Unless and until citizens decide that the moral re-armament of the those they elect to betray them is more important than the downloading of movies whose main motif is the fart, I don't expect much to change - nor do I respect those who prefer jailing the little thieves to rewarding the ones who are too big to fail and to big to jail.

1017.11.2011 22:16

Could also write an article titled Study: General corruption is accepted practice in U.S. corporations, but only behind closed doors. In the end, it all comes out even. Almost.

1118.11.2011 00:27
ajleece
Unverified new user

#1 - Yay! I'm the 1%!

#2 - Torrents are the worst way to download.

1218.11.2011 04:17

i think if someones caught pirating music they should have to delete it or pay the 99cent fee and get the song of itunes.

1318.11.2011 05:40

How can a $10 fine for a song be acceptable? If you steal a $100,000 car, you don't get fined $1,000,000.
Jailtime? I can steal hundreds of wallets without going to jail as long as I don't use violence (welcome to Spain), but I would go to jail for copying a song? That's just plain stupid.

1418.11.2011 08:44

Originally posted by ajleece:
#2 - Torrents are the worst way to download.
How so? Granted, we don't have anything like we need yet, but from what we do have torrents are spectacular. Large communities that alert to viruses and bad data, high download speeds given a popular enough file, hosts who are not willing to drop off the face of the earth at the first sign of litigation, and you can hide your IP easily through a bit of a proxy network.

I've looked into TOR and such, but just riddled with garbage and extraordinarily slow. Won't touch P2P software, never quite trusted it even when I used to and its almost always a guarantee you'll get some infection or other if your not on linux.

Originally posted by ThePastor:
(the absolutely worst way to download)
What exactly is a good alternative then y'all?

1518.11.2011 08:51

If a track is good enough to have (and I already don't have it in my library) I will pay the 99 cents to have it.

Alternatively, I invite the RIAA to suck my balls for the rest...

1618.11.2011 09:56

The best way to download is a site like xbox3xxx. Absolutely no way of being traced because you're not uploading shit. Although they don't do movies/TV just xbox games. I personally don't know any other way that's better than torrents for movies with Peer Block running.

That said, these stats are complete BS. I do believe 70% of youth is downloading. But 2% 1000 songs, 1% 100 movies. Pleeeeze. It's probably more like 60%.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 10:03

1718.11.2011 10:17

First of all it's not 'piracy' anyways.
It's sharing.
If you copy & then try to sell on someone else's work that is piracy.
Sharing merely spreads the art......and for more than a few (like myself) it is a worthwhile try before buy.
I like the lossless audio and the extras a decent video comes with but the pertinent point is that the video has to be decent in the first place for me to even bother with it.

(and if they ever were to stop sharing I'd buy a hell of a lot less than I do)

The second thing to remember is that these surveys are like asking people about sex or drug use, people always lie.

Besides what the hell is the exponential increse in net speed about if its not - for the great majority - about downloading films?
And now we want even faster connections for downloading HD encodes.

Yes I know legally streaming video is becoming more of a feature but it's still early days yet.

The film companies can whine all they like but it's really no different than taping films or TV series to VHS off of the TV back in the day.
The studios have had their enormously profitable DVD splurge and now a new norm is establishing itself.
Things change.
They have no God-given right to expect their consumers & customers to do their bidding.
It is they who are supposed to respond to the market, not the other way around......and setting up (yet another) stupid unwinnable 'war' over this is just adding more money to the bonfire.

(and it's not as if they aren't, even now, amongst the most profitable businesses on the planet as it is)

....oh and lets not forget what a bunch of hypocrites these entertainment companies are, what with their part-ownership of and cozy deals with the various hardware companies & ISP parent companie that make copying so easy.
I always wondered when Sony would get around to sueing itself for making blank media & burners.

Silly me, it's only 'the little people' that get held up as an example & ruined with ludicrously excessive fines
(you have to love how a DVD or CD which sells new for $2 suddenly becomes 'worth' several hundred thousand a time when it comes to hitting people with the bought & paid for law.
What a joke.)

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 10:34

1818.11.2011 11:01

Very true, the label is incorrectly used for the majority, it should be stealing and distributing stolen goods. Although there are those that do sell as well but definitely not the majority. Putting it more nicely it would be considered the Robin Hood syndrome. :)

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 11:02

1918.11.2011 11:08

It's funny how these clowns never give up. The money being spent to prevent file sharing should be channeled to more important things such as making better movies/music. If you want me to spend my money on your content then make it worth me doing so. How many times have you spent your hard earned dollar on media that is just crap.....

2018.11.2011 11:26

I think what you are trying to say is price point based. If products are priced properly people won't waste their time pirating them. If the price is too high then more people will use illegal manners to get what they want.

2118.11.2011 12:20

What no stats for folks between 30 & perhaps 60 or so? You think casual pirating such as copying a rented Netflix or Redbox disc stops at age 29? I don't think so!! Besides lots of people also pirate all kinds of music & audiobooks though file sharing sites with links from Yahoogroups so it's not all torrent files & new releases. Lots of older stuff gets pirated too...

2218.11.2011 12:23

Price is always relative but that's not my point. I'm more interested in the quality of the media and how the industry needs to adapt. Since media barons know that we have options they should channel resources not to eliminate our options but to put out better content and make that content more convenient and user friendly.

With me tho' it's pointless.. Hence my screen name, but the majority of files sharers would not mind paying for content if they felt it was worth them doing so. In short, don't be draconian but adaptive instead!

2318.11.2011 12:25

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
I think what you are trying to say is price point based. If products are priced properly people won't waste their time pirating them. If the price is too high then more people will use illegal manners to get what they want.
A lot of people would sooner download something than pay 5 cents for it.

I disagree that peer sharing isn't piracy. Whether you sell it or give it away via uploading, you're still distributing copyrighted material illegally, hence a pirate.

Anyway, time to grab my wooden leg and feed the parrot
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 12:26

2418.11.2011 13:15
newduser
Unverified new user

People will pay for content if the price is right and the media is available. Warner, CBS and others that will not make their content available,(The Mentalist, Person Of Interest, ect.)will have to deal with people that pirate the content.

Warner took away the digital copy from the latest Harry Potter movie. Guess what, Ill rip the original and have an even better copy than the digital one that came with the Blu-Ray. But I would have paid an extra few dollars for the digital copy that I can use on my ipad.

Until they make positve changes for the consumer, I say pirate everything.

2518.11.2011 13:34

Originally posted by CaptHook:
Price is always relative but that's not my point. I'm more interested in the quality of the media and how the industry needs to adapt. Since media barons know that we have options they should channel resources not to eliminate our options but to put out better content and make that content more convenient and user friendly.

With me tho' it's pointless.. Hence my screen name, but the majority of files sharers would not mind paying for content if they felt it was worth them doing so. In short, don't be draconian but adaptive instead!
Good point and definitely a piece of the cake.


pirating of pi·rate (Verb)
Verb:
1) Rob or plunder (a ship).
2) Use or reproduce (another's work) for profit without permission, usually in contravention of patent or copyright.

Wrong pirating is mis-used but nothing new in todays world.

But as to most people would still pirate is pricing was proper, then I would say you are wrong as most would not pirate but definitely some would and would do it big time.


2618.11.2011 13:40

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
But as to most people would still pirate if pricing was proper, then I would say you are wrong as most would not pirate but definitely some would and would do it big time.
+1 Bigtime!!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 3:23

2718.11.2011 13:50

Mr. Movies...

I totally agree with your comment as well regarding "Piracy" which is a term used to bastardize the file sharing process. In addition, I'll be damned if ill let someone dictate to me what I can do with media that I have purchased. I know that some will respectfully disagree with me but that's okay as long as my opinion is respected as well

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 1:53

2818.11.2011 13:52

(.............bearing in mind what I said before about buying quite a lot of music & video, including HD etc)

The lovely thing about it all is that in more than a few territories they are having to attempt to redefine breach of copyright because sharing & personal using without any form of sale or profit is not illegal.

This is called 'a bunch of snide greedy s**ts moving the goalposts' & shows what this is really all about, the corporations hated VHS video & feel entitled to monetize everything to do with watching their crap (and let's be honest, so much of it is crap that the idea that people unable to see it through sharing will rush out & buy it is laughable).

I could go back to hooking up the old VHS and suffer poorer quality but why should I?
In any event my PVR has a digital copy out function which is legal to use in the UK.
If I can be bothered my Panny plasma has both freesat & freeview (there's a free satellite broadcasting network here - including HD - as well as a free to air terrestrial network, also including HD) the facility to record to a hard drive & I can record & keep TV series & films just like I used to with the VHS, all perfectly legally.

The net gives flexibility & convenience.
It isn't offering many of us something we can't already have perfectly legally.
So what's with the legal actions & ruinous fines?

Talk about way to alienate your customer base.
Idiots.

.....and the most amusing thing of all
(besides their periodic wheeling out of various film stars and music stars to whine about their imminent impoverishment.......lol, they can't get past the truth that 99.9999999999% of everything downloaded is from the already successful, well known & well off)
is that no matter how much they try to redefine & reframe this debate everyone knows sharing is not theft, it never was, it never is and never will be.

2918.11.2011 14:53

Originally posted by ThePastor:

Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)


That is a interesting remark. I guess you must figure the world is made up of idiots. I guess that might be true.

3018.11.2011 15:05

Wow, my apologies to all the torrenters out there.

Let me restate, In my experience, there are much better, faster, easier ways that have very little legal exposure, to get what you want. IMO

3118.11.2011 15:30

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Wow, my apologies to all the torrenters out there.

Let me restate, In my experience, there are much better, faster, easier ways that have very little legal exposure, to get what you want. IMO
I agree... A friend of mine has been telling me for years to ditch the torrent community for fear of punitive actions by ISP, even while I was using a third party VPN. I'm just now coming along into the USENET community in which the content and availability of the content is the same using NZB sites to snatch files as supposed to P2P and it is supposedly more secure.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 3:33

3218.11.2011 15:43

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Wow, my apologies to all the torrenters out there.

Let me restate, In my experience, there are much better, faster, easier ways that have very little legal exposure, to get what you want. IMO
Be more clear, do you mean private or public?

3318.11.2011 16:01

There is no such thing as a truly private torrent. You can have a private membership but the lines are public. Even if you use a VPN your usage is tracked. It is only harder to discover your identity.

3418.11.2011 16:04

Originally posted by DVDBack23:
Originally posted by ThePastor:
Wow, my apologies to all the torrenters out there.

Let me restate, In my experience, there are much better, faster, easier ways that have very little legal exposure, to get what you want. IMO
Be more clear, do you mean private or public?
Aye, please. I'd certainly enjoy knowing what it is, I'm always up for safer and faster. Suppose I'll look into USENET now, but is that what you're referring to?

3518.11.2011 16:53

I don't think I've grabbed more than a 1000 tracks but if I had, it's been since the Napster days. Probably more than a 100 movies BUT, I continue to buy blu-rays like crazy too. I don't leech. I give back. As for music.....again......don't believe in buying them. Money for musicians is in touring and concerts.....not album sales. F those record labels whom comprise the RIAA institution.

3618.11.2011 19:48

Yes, usenet, but ... the first rule of Usenet is "Don't tell anyone". :D

Try this search: http://www.nzbclub.com/


3718.11.2011 22:15
Torrents?todlornottl
Unverified new user

Originally posted by snardos:
Originally posted by ThePastor:

To most people, what's the difference between watching something on Netflix or watching something from a Hard drive?
Even people who download stuff don't always understand what they are doing. Just based on the large numbers of torrent users, (the absolutely worst way to download)

I disagree that torrents are the worst way to download. I know people who used limewire up until the end and are now using some other *wire software.

What is better than torrents? I think usenet is stupid. Why would someone pay to download pirated content?

This is all hypothetical of course.
Why do torrents suck. I fine it to be a efficient way to achieve my ends? What issues are you having?

3818.11.2011 23:46

Torrents suck because you open up multiple threads to all sorts of people which could be friend or foe. Also, you may not get all of your pieces if seeds go away midstream in your downloading. And there are more reasons beyond that like seed go away after a few days of post normally and if you are lucky one seed may have the full file(set).

Torrents are dangerous! I can use a VPN tunnel and download most of the time much faster and definitely safer than a torrent were I'm wide open to the net.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Nov 2011 @ 11:48

3919.11.2011 00:01

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
Torrents suck because you open up multiple threads to all sorts of people which could be friend or foe. Also, you may not get all of your pieces if seeds go away midstream in your downloading. And there are more reasons beyond that like seed go away after a few days of post normally and if you are lucky one seed may have the full file(set).

Torrents are dangerous! I can use a VPN tunnel and download most of the time much faster and definitely safer than a torrent were I'm wide open to the net.
Seeds dying out is exactly why I quit using torrents....

4019.11.2011 00:58

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Yes, usenet, but ... the first rule of Usenet is "Don't tell anyone". :D

Try this search: http://www.nzbclub.com/


Torrent is free to use, this appears to cost a monthly fee to use. What is the advantage over Torrent? Or, more to the point, if you are actually going to pay to download pirated stuff, why not pay for the genuine article instead?

4119.11.2011 10:17

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Yes, usenet, but ... the first rule of Usenet is "Don't tell anyone". :D

DOH! Seriously guys...Yeah Torrents are the bomb! As long as they can go after easy picking like torrent users they can leave us "stupid" usenet users alone. Especialy those of us paranoid enough to be "reading" all those articles via a SSL connection. As far as the premium I pay for a good news server in another country goes...let's just rest assured I am very far ahead of the game and without the worry some lawyer is going to send me a letter threatening me into settling for thousands of $ I fully expect to stay that way...WOOT TORRENTS!!!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 19 Nov 2011 @ 10:30

4220.11.2011 00:14

Originally posted by patrick_:
How can a $10 fine for a song be acceptable? If you steal a $100,000 car, you don't get fined $1,000,000.
Jailtime? I can steal hundreds of wallets without going to jail as long as I don't use violence (welcome to Spain), but I would go to jail for copying a song? That's just plain stupid.
imo if you stole a $100,000 car and damaged it i think you should have to return the car and pay for the repairs.
punishments dont fit the crime.

as for the rest of you complaining about torrents.i use torrents they work fine.never tryed usenet.use what works best to you and dont criticizing the rest.

4321.11.2011 15:03

agreed.
I never said torrents suck. I said that it was the worst way IMO.

I've tried both and I'll never go back to torrents.
Torrents require you to upload much more than you download.
That's never, ever been an issue with Usenet.

There's another popular download method. DDL's. This one is pretty good as well, but go figure, it's not free either.

Whatever works for you is great.

4421.11.2011 15:46

Originally posted by ThePastor:
agreed.
Torrents require you to upload much more than you download.

Not true. You can throttle your upload/download ratio without taking a speed hit on the downloads.


4521.11.2011 21:49

Originally posted by ChiefBrdy:
Originally posted by ThePastor:
agreed.
Torrents require you to upload much more than you download.

Not true. You can throttle your upload/download ratio without taking a speed hit on the downloads.


my upload speed is up to 56k.my download speed is up to 800kbps.

4622.11.2011 16:53

My download speed is about 1.5mb/s and upload speed is irrelevant.

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