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by E Chabrow
Information Week
Jun 28, 2005
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Though the Supreme Court unanimously ruled
against Grokster and other file-sharing programs, the community of Internet
users is split over whether file sharing of copyrighted materials such
as music and movies should be illegal.
On Monday, the Supreme Court held Internet file-sharing services liable
if their intent is for customers to use software primarily to swap songs
and movies illegally, rejecting warnings that the lawsuits will stunt
growth of cool tech gadgets such as the next iPod.
But Internet users are equally divided--44% to 44%--on whether such
file-sharing practices should be banned, according to a survey conducted
in May among 1,062 Americans by market-research firm Solutions Research
Group.
When the opinions of non-Net users are thrown into the mix, 45% favor
outlawing file-sharing of copyrighted content vs. 39% who favor the
practice. Regionally, opposition to the practice was highest in the
West (51%) and the South (50%). In the Northeast, only one-third of
survey respondents supported a ban.
Not surprisingly, younger Americans were more willing to cast a blind
eye on copyright protection than their elders. So, too, were users of
devices such as MP3 players and broadband. By 54% to 34%, Internet users
ages 12 to 29 favored file sharing; MP3 owners liked file sharing 55%
to 35%, and those who have downloaded music--free or paid--approved
of the procedure by a whopping 63% to 27%.
The strongest opposition to file sharing came from Americans 50 years
old and older; 51% opposed illicit filing sharing vs. 27% who supported
it.
The study's director, Kaan Yigit, pointed out the striking magnitude
of the generation gap in attitudes toward file sharing. "As the
first generation raised on the browse, sample, and share culture of
the Internet," Yigit wrote in a commentary accompanying the survey
results, "young Americans are challenging the traditional notions
of intellectual property." |
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