Deterrence Effect of Four Legal and Extralegal Factors on Online Copyright Infringement

摘要

A survey of online file sharers found that both legal and extralegal factors had a deterrenceneffect on online copyright infringement. Perceived certainty of punishment, perceived stigmanof label, awareness of the laws and consensus with the laws were found to be negativelyncorrelated with both current and likely future file-sharing activities. The regression analysesnrevealed that both current and future file-sharing activities were best predicted by the legalnfactor perceived certainty of punishment. The extralegal factors, perceived stigma of labelnand consensus with the laws, played important roles in deterring both current and likelynfuture file-sharing activities, while awareness of the laws played a weak role in deterringnlikelihood of future file-sharing. The findings provide an empirical basis for developingnalternative strategies to deter online file-sharing that involves massive users.