MS: Teens Less Likely to Download Illegally When They Know the Laws

[wraggster]

Microsoft Corp. today announced the results of a new survey that found teenagers between seventh and 10th grades are less likely to illegally download content from the Internet when they know the laws for downloading and sharing content online.

About half of those teens, however, said they were not familiar with these laws, and only 11 percent of them clearly understood the current rules for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software. Teens who were familiar with downloading rules credited their parents, TV or stories in magazines and newspapers, and Web sites -- more so than their schools -- as resources for information about illegal downloading.

Following are additional key findings from the survey:
-- A lack of familiarity with the rules and guidelines for downloading from the Internet contributes to teen opinions that punishment is unnecessary.
-- Almost half of the teenagers surveyed (49 percent) said they are not familiar with the rules and guidelines for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software from the Internet. Only one in 10 (11 percent) said they understood the rules "very well."
-- Among teenagers who said they were familiar with the laws, more than eight in 10 (82 percent) said illegal downloaders should be punished. In contrast, slightly more than half (57 percent) of those unfamiliar with the laws said violators should be punished.
-- In general, teenagers regard illegal downloading over the Internet as less offensive than other forms of stealing.
-- Less than half of the teens surveyed (48 percent) indicated punishment was appropriate for illegal downloading, while 90 percent indicated punishment was appropriate for stealing a bike.
-- Teens rely on parents for rules on downloading.
-- Teens report that their parents are their main source of information about what they can and cannot do online. Reinforcing the role of parents is the finding that some of the strongest deterrents to stealing and illegally sharing content are the prospective consequences.
-- Among teens who download or share content online, boys are more likely than girls to say that they would not continue after being told the rules* to download or share content over the Internet without paying for it or gaining the owner's permission (76 percent vs. 68 percent respectively).
-- Teens are challenged by peer pressure and their wallets.
-- Among teens, peer pressure and cost also have a strong influence on attitudes toward illegal downloading.

[jmendes]

riiiiight...

[Anonymous D]

well if were going for an eduction strategy can we also educate on the actual losses caused by piracy, rather than the spun figures we see so regularly.

also a side note, the last two points are one and the same.

[rokobungi]

MS: Teens Likely to Tell Adults What Teens Think Adults Want to Hear.

[Nicko01]

HAHAHAHA.... no Microsoft.

"What?? That was illegal?? Uhh, I didn't know..."
Yeah, thats just what people say. I don't know the laws either, by the way.

[I xfire I]

well how often do you know the laws.....to anything, and even then a lot is grey area.

and about the piracy figures and how much it causes i agree.

[Eviltaco64]

Just Say NO to piracy.

Currently downloading:
Conker: Live and Reloaded :D

Oh, wait. I'm a troubled teen in need of counciling! All a computer has ever brought me is loneliness! Can somebody hold me? :p

[wolfpack]

Thats total BS

[Joe88]

MS is lulz
everything they make has been cracked and pirated including their OS's, software, and game systems d:

[ICE]

MS: Teens Likely to Tell Adults What Teens Think Adults Want to Hear.

Lol bingo

[aznflameboy]

LMAO Who in their right mind would tell these guys that they knew that it was illegal?!

[maxipower90]

good, i,ll think about it when the new series of the simpsons is finished downloading and i sell 100 copies

lol joke or is it........

[Nikolaos]

Lmfao, rightttttttttttttttttttt. I mean how much did you spend on these studies MS?I have been informed since I was 11 ^_^

[Torak]

-- Teens are challenged by peer pressure and their wallets.
-- Among teens, peer pressure and cost also have a strong influence on attitudes toward illegal downloading.

Friend: Dude, dude, dude you have to go and download Super Mario World!
Friend2: Uhh I dont know man isnt that like illegal?
Friend: No no man every one is doing it.
Friend2: Oh wow so I should download Super Mario World huh!
Friend: Yea man its so awsome i mean clicking download watching the progress hoping the FBI doesnt show up. Man life on the edge, life on the edge... And then finally opening snes9x to play it for 5 minutes and then get bored... Man so awsome...

HAH I loled when I saw those last two sentences...

[Zargon]

No matter how much they lobby against piracy, people will always download programs and games illegally. Just like, I don't know, all other crimes! Seriously, you can't stop it by threating to hunt people down. For every person that says, "Oh noes, I might get caughtzorz!!!" there are three downloading things via torrents, warez/rom sites, and ftp's. Its here to stay, deal with it.

[steve520]

wow microsoft come on now you really think knowing the laws is gonna stop us not really...i mean we underage drink everyday duh...god dumbasses they should be concerned about fixing our red-ringed xbox's

[RV2006]

I reckon while this 'survey' was taking place, some employees were using the spare time to get the lastest mario game for their modchipped wii...

In other words: this is BS, and everyone is a pirate...

Yarrr!!!

[mattsaysfooey]

Yes very unbiast true accurate numbers because total honestly and self-incrimination is so common amongst teens.

[kcajblue]

thats pretty stupid.
like knowing the law actually stopped anyone from doing it in the past.
it hasnt and wont.

[hataish]

Hi, This post is very informative, however there are some queries to ask about some specific topic. If someone can help me then please send me a private message. Thanks,

[stevo11185]

Do you want cos a pirate is free
You are a pirate
Yarr Harr fiddle de dee
being a pirate is alright to be
do what you want cos a pirate is free
you are a pirate

[goity]

I remember when my "friends" forced me into piracy. That was before I came an alcoholic. After that, I just couldn't stop. Even after my friend died of bad rum.
It got worse. Because piracy is a gateway drug, I ended up doing pills. I actually ended up in hospital because of it. But now I can't stop.

Kids, don't pirate.

[F9zDark]

Haha this article is funny. Sure, thats what teens think (as they click "Download Song" on whatever P2P service they are using).

OK Microsoft, good job at only proving one thing: Teens are great liars.

[____anders____]

Who gives a sh*t about the law against piracy anyway?

besides mpaa and all the other greedy bastards..

EDIT: oh and by the way, my xbox contains no less than 60 "backup" games, i only bought the matrix: path of neo and unreal championship 2 because there were no seeders and the games are around 3 GB or something and they were cheap..

so now i have 62 xbox games, not to mention all the emulators and roms :D
i don't know what to do with the 70 GB i have left of the xbox HDD..

[Harshboy]

I remember when my "friends" forced me into piracy. That was before I came an alcoholic. After that, I just couldn't stop. Even after my friend died of bad rum.
It got worse. Because piracy is a gateway drug, I ended up doing pills. I actually ended up in hospital because of it. But now I can't stop.

Kids, don't pirate.

WTF does pirating things have to do with alcohol and drugs?

"Oh Noez!!! I downloaded a Daxter Iso so now I'm going to go smoke pot!!!"

Um...no?

Btw, this is coming from a kid with a modded Xbox, a DS with an R4 and who knows how many 1GB microSD cards and a PSP with an 8GB memory card filled with emulators, roms, and Isos.

Gaming is too expensive...I mean, just buying a console is a lot now-a-days (To Teens and Other People, unless you're a rich person). Who has an extra $60 to shell out per game? I own games that I have boughten too, but only the good games like CoD4 and Halo 3. I find myself likely to use Iso's on my PSP to sample each game to see if it's worth the $40.

[Prasoc]

360 hacking is actually quite uncommon. because of xbox live with achievements, people want to be competetive and not get banned so they don't download isos. afaik the only way to hack a 360 is to use a modchip and change the dvd drive (am i right?), so it is way to complicated for an average pirate

[sonofsamus]

WTF does pirating things have to do with alcohol and drugs?

"Oh Noez!!! I downloaded a Daxter Iso so now I'm going to go smoke pot!!!"

Um...no?
Nice job missing the joke there, sport.

[Joe88]

360 hacking is actually quite uncommon. because of xbox live with achievements, people want to be competetive and not get banned so they don't download isos. afaik the only way to hack a 360 is to use a modchip and change the dvd drive (am i right?), so it is way to complicated for an average pirate

well you you can use a modchip but most get detected and banned very quickly
so people use the custom dvd firmware

[Mini Moose]

If it so "wrong" to download stuff, then why is so widely available?!. Hmmm?!

And if they want to stop loosing money then they should start making better games. Cause people get older games cause all of the newer ones suck.

Seriously.