In recent months, some American teens have found out the hard
way that it is illegal to share music on the Internet. The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) did not actually
file the first 261 lawsuits against music "pirates" until Sept. 8,
but it has been aggressively publicizing its plans to do so since
early last summer.
But the industry has a long way to go -- last February's Gallup
Youth Survey found 47% of teens saying they use the Internet for
downloading music. Legal issues aside, Gallup wanted to know where
teens stand on the morality of downloading music from the
Internet without paying for it. In an August 2003 Gallup Youth
Survey*, 83% of teens (aged 13 to 17) said that it is morally
acceptable to download "music from the Internet for free."
The Morality Spectrum
The August finding was part of a broader question asking teens
about the moral acceptability of a number of items. Downloading
free music was by far the item most likely to be deemed morally
acceptable by teens, surpassing items such as divorce (which 67% of
teens found morally acceptable), gambling (61% morally acceptable)
and sex between an unmarried man and woman (57% morally
acceptable). Gallup asked about cheating on tests, another topic
with which teens are familiar. Interestingly, in the February poll,
48% of teens admitted to having cheated on a test or exam -- the
same percentage that admitted to downloading music for free. Yet
when teens were asked in the August poll whether cheating on tests
is morally acceptable or morally wrong, only 18% said that it was
morally acceptable.
Brad, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, is part of the
minority of teens who thinks downloading is morally wrong. Yet his
views reflect how teens are straddling the fence on this issue.
"Downloading music is theft and theft is morally wrong," he says.
"Just because you're not walking into a store and grabbing a CD
from the shelf, it's still wrong. It's hurting the record industry
and the artists who make the music. But will it stop me from
downloading? No way."
Since the question did not explicitly mention copyrights or
authorizations by the recording industry, some teens may have
responded with the recognition that downloading free music per
se is not a crime. On the other hand, it may simply be that
teens do not feel an obligation to the music industry to pay for
music. They are able to "consume" music for free over the radio,
and the Internet is simply another place to find the same music at
no charge.
"I suspect the largest moral issue is simply the old
beach-combing, law-of-the-sea, finders-keepers mentality," says
Rushworth Kidder, president of the Institute for Global Ethics in
Camden, Maine. "[Teens think,] 'If something falls overboard into
the great sea of the Internet and washes up on my computer -- hey,
it's there, isn't it? If those guys REALLY wanted to restrict its
usage, they should tie down their cargo more tightly. Not MY fault
I stumbled onto it.'"
Elizabeth, a 17-year-old high school junior, sees it this way.
"I think downloading music from the Internet is morally acceptable
because it's the same thing as taping a song from the radio -- no
one is getting hurt," she says. "But cheating on a test is getting
help from an outside source without studying and learning the
material. So you're not only harming yourself, but possibly your
classmates, as well, by creating a false curve."
Bottom Line
Whatever the reason, the survey data suggest that teens may not
be inclined to give music downloading voluntarily anytime soon, and
any effort to curb downloads by teens will fall on parents, law
enforcement, and the recording industry. But these groups will be
getting some help from the movies shortly. The Motion Picture
Association of America, in an effort to derail a downloading frenzy
in their own industry, has partnered with Junior Achievement to
bring school programs in "Digital Citizenship" to teens and
preteens in grades 5 through 9.
*The Gallup Youth Survey is conducted via an Internet
methodology provided by Knowledge Networks, using an online
research panel that is designed to be representative of the entire
U.S. population. The current questionnaire was completed by 517
respondents who had participated in the prior survey, aged 13 to
17, between Aug. 1-Aug. 29, 2003. The prior wave was completed by
1,200 respondents, aged 13 to 17, between Jan. 23-Feb. 10, 2003.
For results based on the current sample, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±8%.
For results based on the prior sample, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±4%.
