Attitudes towards digital piracy: the role of morality

Much empirical research into digital piracy has explored potential predictive factors, where more recently the role of morality has emerged as a major new focus. In an online attitudes survey, the role of moral reasoning was investigated using a mixed design amongst a sample of 188 participants (male 34.6 per cent, female 65.4 per cent) with a mean age of 30.1 (SD=10.3). Participants were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: Easy solution for the public, Negative consequences on the individual (pirate), Negative consequences on the industry and Control, each emphasising different aspects of the debate surrounding digital piracy in a background vignette. All participants were asked questions measuring attitudes towards: Law and Order, Social Order, Principles and Individual Rights in relation to digital piracy. Questions were presented in two biased frames: Pro-Industry and Pro-Piracy. Results demonstrated a significant main effect of condition, along with a significant interaction between condition and moral reasoning where participants allocated to the Easy solution for the public condition scored a statistically higher mean on questions measuring Individual Rights. A significant main effect of moral reasoning was also noted, along with a significant interaction between moral reasoning and bias framing; with participants agreeing more with Pro-Industry framed questions scoring a statistically higher mean on Principles and Individual Rights questions. Limitations and implications are discussed with regards to future anti-piracy strategies in the UK, with comments made on the Digital Economy Act (Her Majesty’s Government in the UK, 2010).