"Given the consequences associated with illegal downloading, this paper argues that an innovative approach is needed to moderate the activity. Drawing on psychological literature, this paper argues that public policy informed by attribution theory (Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1979) might help to curb illegal downloading within some circles; this might be achieved by increasing opportunities for engagement between the owners and users of intellectual property. Rather than using policy and legislation to restrain access to intellectual property, attribution theory suggests that policy approaches that close proximal distances between creators and audiences, and fosters psychological contracts, might be effective in curbing these violations."
There's a great piece in the latest issue of First Monday by Kalika Navin Doloswala and Ann Dadich on downloading and on the wrong-headed policies that have failed to curb the practice or to re-habilitate the music industry in any significant way. Interestingly, it's one of the first papers on downloading that I've read that ventures beyond gift-theory ideas to explain file-sharing. Instead, the authors bring in attribution theory (i.e. pyschological theory that looks at how people rationalize and make sense of certain behaviours or events, particularly those that tend to fall outside of societal norms and standards). They argue that current policies aimed at punishing downloaders have little effect since they fail to take into account the reasons people engage in the behaviour in the first place.
Although some of the concluding policy recommendations are a little contradictory (i.e. although showing users how downloading hurts musicians and labels should provoke a change in attitude or behaviour, we have years of failed music industry marketing campaigns that suggest otherwise), it seems like this could be an interesting, potentially fruitful, direction for future policy development. I agree that a greater engagement between artists and users is a positive benefit for re-evaluating our relationship with digital commodities; I've noted elsewhere that this promise is at the heart of what makes the digital music commodity so exciting. But the paper leaves the elephant in the room unaddressed: if such a vast majority of users are participating in, or have taken part in, "illegal" downloading, maybe the answer is not with one-off band-aid policy recommendations. Maybe a bigger re-thinking of IP policies for digital commodities is required first.
Still, the authors seem genuinely invested in stopping what they call the "creeping criminalisation of society" and for that alone, the paper is worth a read.
Check out the full paper by Kalika Navin Doloswala and Ann Dadich here: The Accidental Criminal: Using Policy to Curb Illegal Downloading
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