p/ conhecimento

---------- 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.edu

Dear 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...

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