A new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that
67 percent of file sharers are unconcerned about copyright issues, up
from 61 percent in 2001. Among high-school and college students, the
number rises to around 80 percent.
One researcher at the Pew project said she was surprised that recent attention to legal issues of file
sharing had not resulted in lower rates of apathy, but a spokesman from
the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) discounted the
survey’s results, saying that it predated his organization’s
announcement about prosecuting individual file sharers. He said that
other research has shown that the RIAA’s recent actions will result in
more users paying attention to and caring about copyright issues. This
week Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) began looking into the RIAA’s
actions, including the subpoenas it has filed. Coleman said he is
concerned about situations in which family members or roommates have
been caught up in the RIAA’s hunt for copyright violators.