Deterring Online Music/Movie Piracy

Lecture Center Concourse

Online piracy of music and movies is common, despite being a form of theft and copyright infringement. Many individuals do not realize the real-life impacts of online piracy on artists as well as the entertainment industry as a whole. Moreover, few perpetrators are caught or punished for their actions. This allows potential perpetrators to rationalize and neutralize their piracy-related behaviors and, thus, avoid feelings of guilt or shame. This research examines framing tactics that may be used to prime feelings of guilt and shame and, in turn, deter online piracy. Specifically, through an online experimental survey in which the potential victims of piracy are portrayed as either (a) sustaining minor or significant injury and (b) distant or close in proximity to participants. Anticipated feelings of shame and guilt were hypothesized to decrease anticipated likelihood of engaging in future online piracy when the amount of financial injury the victims would incur was greater as well as when victims were more proximal. Moreover, likelihood of engaging in future piracy was compared across the four experimental conditions relative to a control condition in which no victim was mentioned to examine the extent to which perceiving online piracy as a victimless crime enabled would-be perpetrators to rationalize their illegal behavior. Findings showed that no condition was successful in significantly impacting likelihood to engage in piracy. These results provide insights about a variety of framing strategies that may be integrated into policy or programs seeking to effectively deter potential perpetrators and prevent online piracy.