Comments on: Copy Culture in the US and Germany

Copy Culture in the US and Germany

gilrain — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:08:10 -0800

The American Assembly has released their much-anticipated and well-presented study on Copy Culture. The random phone survey of 2303 Americans and 1000 Germans answers many questions about the demographics and public perception of file sharing and piracy. TorrentFreak pulls out some highlights.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:49:12 -0800

From the picture on the cover I thought this would be about Tumblr.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:01:55 -0800

I'm going to have a hard time taking this research seriously after seeing the terrible graphs on the TorrentFreak article. That is not how you use a line graph! Tufte wept.

By: birdherder

birdherder — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:07:36 -0800

Nearly half the population in the US and Germany (46% US; 45% DE) has copied, shared, or "downloaded for free" music, movies, and TV shows. We call this "copy culture." Download for free? What about all the content you can download for free legitimately. I downloaded for free a song from iTunes. So that puts me in the copy culture.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:10:11 -0800

13% of all people with an Internet connection use P2P-services... 2% of all Internet users say they have [...] seeded files. low rate, needing more seeds!! cmon ppl!!

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:12:27 -0800

Yeah, doesn't that line basically mean '11% of people don't really understand P2P'?

By: Area Man

Area Man — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:14:40 -0800

Yeah, I was confused by the "downloaded for free" question. I don't get copies of music to which I am not legally entitled, but have download free samples or tracks when offered by labels or artists.

By: jedicus

jedicus — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:20:33 -0800

Download for free? What about all the content you can download for free legitimately. I downloaded for free a song from iTunes. So that puts me in the copy culture. I wondered if maybe the actual survey question was more specific, but it's not. They asked about the percentage of a respondent's music that was "Downloaded for free from a website or file-sharing service" They do ask specifically about purchasing pirated DVDs, so it's not like they were afraid to ask direct questions about illegal acts.

By: vidur

vidur — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:21:15 -0800

Yeah, doesn't that line basically mean '11% of people don't really understand P2P'? That's not so bad, considering 84.6% of all P2P users do not understand P2P.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:27:01 -0800

Yeah, that too.

By: infini

infini — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:46:03 -0800

Isn't Skype P2P as well? And the calls for free?

By: vibratory manner of working

vibratory manner of working — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:31:53 -0800

Should the government block sites that provide access to pirated content: 40% yes Should the government censor sites that provide access to pirated content: 33% yes Should ISPs try to screen user activity and remove pirated files? 58% yes Should your internet use be monitored in order to prevent infringement? 26% yes The power of question wording. (The second pair is admittedly less direct a comparison given the extra clause in the first one, but "screen user activity" versus "monitor your internet use" look roughly equivalent to me)

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:41:05 -0800

I'd consider 32% not understanding universality in ethics unsurprising : They're content if ISPs monitor "users", but unhappy if ISPs monitor their personal habits. You need deliberative democracy, not just referenda, or deliberative opinion poles, not just poles, for exactly this reason. In practice, you could usually spend money convincing users that they are actually users to generate opposition because any legislative enforcement mechanism will inherently trample user rights though. In any case, the copyright lobby has finally won their six-strikes policy by side stepping the legislature to deal directly with Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Cablevison, and Comcast. We've observed a big uptick in seedbox and vpn services, as well as interest in tools like OneSwarm, since the six-strikes deal went through. I've no idea if the six-strikes "[re]education" campaign will push users towards buying more stuff, consuming less comercial stuff, or buying more circumvention services though.

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:59:06 -0800

jeffburdges: "deliberative opinion poles, not just poles, for exactly this reason" Let's not polarize this debate too much. I fail to see why Polish people should be singled out.

By: alasdair

alasdair — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 05:16:27 -0800

In the UK it's still illegal piracy to copy a CD you own to your iPod. I'd love to see the figures for people thinking it's wrong so to do. (Reference, since no-one ever believes me!)

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:58:46 -0800

That is not how you use a line graph! Tufte wept. No kidding. I can't even begin to comprehend what the intent is with those two charts. I mean...Re-arrange the questions along the bottom and you get entirely different graphs. Of course, having been the "art department" in a small software company, I recall being art-directed by the CEO when making charts for the annual report which...well...let's just say the charts were "designed" to visually imply "facts" that the numbers in the charts didn't support. So, I have a good idea what might be at-work with these charts, but I'm going to tell myself this is just office droids armed with a copy of Photoshop or Illustrator and no concept of proper information-design. I'll feel better.

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:50:19 -0800

hey look everybody! file sharing appears to be dropping off! you'd better get with the program if you want to be like the cool kids! what, this? this giant check from the RIAA that i'm holding? oh that's nothing...OMG, look! a tree octopus!

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 04:03:20 -0800

Copyright "Strike" Systems Are Modern Witch Trials "there are no effective checks on the validity of the claims, they are just processed as valid."