The justifications of piracy : Differences in conceptualization and argumentation between active uploaders and other file-sharers

• By employing a mix between qualitative and quantitative methods, we explored the ways in which file sharers themselves conceive of the future of “piracy.” A content analysis of a selection of open answers from the Research Bay study (a global file sharing survey conducted in collaboration with file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in April, 2011, with more than 75,000 respondents) revealed significant differences between active uploaders and the much larger group of respondents who regularly download files but never upload. Tropes of “community” were not particularly abundant in this corpus. The biggest singular tropes were those of unstoppability/technical resilience (“File-sharing won’t be stopped”); convenience/availability/supply; skepticism/hostility towards governmental intrusion; and—surprisingly—the trope that file sharing will eventually be integrated with the market. This latter trope was particularly common among the non-uploaders (representing the majority of Pirate Bay users) compared to the dedicated uploaders. The non-uploaders also appeared to be more disposed towards a generic belief in the progress, evolution, and a potential convergence/assimilation of technology.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Juridik och samhälle (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Law and Society (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Kulturgeografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Human Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Audience Studies

Content Analysis

Metaphor

Digital Piracy

File Sharing

Justification

Norms

Ethics

Morality

World Views

Copyright Law

Intellectual Property

Kritisk kulturteori

Critical and Cultural Theory

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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