Digital Piracy

What is it about?

Digital piracy is one of the most popular forms of intellectual property theft and is currently recognized as a crime in several countries. This begs the question, if persons are fully informed that digital file sharing is a crime and, if caught, can be legally prosecuted, why do individuals opt to engage in such criminal behaviour? The purpose of the paper is to determine the psychological, social and economic factors influencing digital piracy. Understanding the social and psychological features of digital pirates is necessary if effected strategies are to be developed to deter the practice of digital piracy.

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Why is it important?

To the best of the knowledge, no other study has combined notions from attitude/values/behaviour with that of willingness to pay. Yet, the literature would suggest that they both have significant impacts on the quantity of digital goods that are pirated. It is possible that not modelling their joint impact could have resulted in loss of vital information. The results suggest that intentions and willingness to pay (WTP) both have a significant impact on digital piracy. Intentions are in turn influenced by the pirate’s attitude, perceived consequences, ethics, education level and environment. Finally, a facilitating environment and perceived importance of the piracy issue help to predict’ WTP for digital products.

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