---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Marcin de Kaminski <marcin.de_kaminski@soclaw.lu.se>
Date: 9 May 2012 09:38
Subject: Cybernorms and studies of file-sharing communities
To:
IP-ENFORCEMENT@roster.wcl.american.eduDear all,
During three days in April last year the Cybernorms Research Group
conducted a big survey study called The Research Bay in cooperation with
the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. The aim was to explore the
demographics of the file-sharing community on site, using the huge user
base of The Pirate Bay to grasp what the file-sharing phenomenon (and
debate) is all about. The response was tremendous. During the three days
we got over 75.000 answers from all parts of the world, which gave us a
great insight and an even greater collection of data regarding issues
like file-sharing, anonymization, leech/seed ratio and much more.
Now we are doing it again. Three days from today, meaning from Wednesday
to Friday this week, we once again are on the front of The Pirate Bay.
The survey is very similar to the one we used last year, with minor
changes and additions. This to make the data as comparable as possible.
Our survey is not the first study that deals with file-sharing. Within
the Cybernorms Research Group we have several others that we use to
compare and even deeper understand the issues that interest us. Other
researchers have done similar work in other contexts. Still, we think
that it is most vital to explore the field from within. This is why we
have chosen to partner up with a site like The Pirate Bay.
Among other studies conducted by the Cybernorms Research Group is a very
interesting study related to file-sharing and social norm strength which
also investigates the relation between copyright enforcement and online
anonymization. Torrentfreak wrote about this just recently at
http://torrentfreak.com/young-file-sharers-respond-to-tough-laws-by-buying-a-vpn-120501/
That particular study was the third in a series of identical studies,
conducted in feb '09 (during the TPB trial and pre-IPRED); oct '09
(post-IPRED) and feb '12 (long term post-IPRED and in the middle of a
new enforcement campaign against filesharers in Sweden).
The first is described here:
http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol2/iss4/art4/
The second here:
http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/04/09/1461444812439553.abstract
The third is accepted, but needs to go through some peer review first
before publishing.
Best,
Marcin de Kaminski
--
Marcin de Kaminski
PhDc Sociology of Law, University of Lund - www.soclaw.lu.se
Cybernorms research group - www.cybernormer.se / www.cybernorms.net
Personal homepage - www.dekaminski.se
Email: Marcin.de_Kaminski@soclaw.lu.se
Phone#: +46-(0)768-045151