出版社：International Association for Computer Information Systems
摘要：We are living in the world easily getting access to the Internet through desktops, laptops, I-Pad type of touchscreen devices, and smartphones without having any constraint in terms of time and place, which is obviously transforming our lives. In the entertainment world, it is a common phenomenon that we can get music and movies through online streaming, downloading, posting, and file sharing through file to file (P2P) networks. The explosion of the Internet and the ease of sharing digital files raise a serious ethical question; how do copyright holders deal with consumers who have the attitude toward P2P file sharing as one of sources getting free and unlimited access to vast libraries of copyrighted music and video files? The study examined four determining factors of consumers’ online streaming and P2P file sharing, 1) consumers’ ethical/moral attitude toward P2P file sharing, 2) consumers’ sympathetic attitude toward victims, the music/movie industry and artists, of consumers’ unauthorized sharing of copyrighted files through P2P networks, 3) consumers’ attitude toward the music/movie industry as excessive profit makers, having too few good songs/movies on a CD/DVD, and 4) consumers’ attitude toward online purchasing. Survey results showed that consumers’ ethical/moral attitude toward P2P file sharing was significant in determining consumers’ experience with P2P file sharing of copyrighted music/movie. Consumers’ sympathetic attitude toward the music/movie industry, but not artists as a victim of unauthorized P2P file sharing was also significant even though consumers’ negative attitude toward the music/movie industry was not significant, and consumers’ attitude toward online purchasing of music/movie was not significant to determine P2P file sharing. Furthermore, consumers’ P2P file sharing experience had a significant relationship with consumers’ online purchasing experience of music/movie and more collections of music/movie files.
关键词：Peer to Peer Systems (P2P); Online Streaming; File Sharing; Copyright; Consumer Ethics
