The Profiles of Software Pirates among Tertiary Institutions in Singapore

The study seeks to examine the perception of software piracy as well as to discover its underlying factors among Singapore’s three university communities. Some five hundred responses were gathered from students and staff. By means of cluster analysis and factor analysis, the results identify three clusters of pirate profiles as influenced by factors such as attitudes towards software publishers, general acceptance, convenience, and ethics. The decision tree method links each pirate profile to demographic and computer-related variables. It shows that while age is negatively related to software piracy, computer experience and computer usage demonstrates an ambiguous relationship to software piracy respectively. Further, the undergraduate students tend to be pirates more often than university employees, and the Malays tend to be less frequent pirates as compared to other races. It is hoped that the study will help the relevant policy makers to develop better strategies to protect and to enforce the intellectual property rights among the universities as well as in an increasingly knowledge-based economy such as Singapore.Software Piracy; Software Policy; Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; Cluster Analysis; Factor Analysis.

A Cross-National Experimental Examination of Software Piracy Behavior

Software piracy has been a problematic issue for several decades. While there is a significant body of research attempting to identify reasons why individuals pirate software, some factors influencing software piracy have yet to be studied completely. One such factor, addressed herein, is differences across countries. Cross-country comparisons of self-report rates of software piracy and aggregate rates of piracy have been published. Such studies have shown that software piracy rates vary by country. Explanations of these differences have been based on country level variables, such as gross national product (GDP). However, we are not aware of any study that has examined the role of social and individual factors to explain cross-country differences. We plan to examine the role of social desirability bias (SDB) as a possible explanatory factor for differences in reports of software piracy behavior in two countries: the United States and the United Arab Emirates

Youth\u27s Intention To Pirate Digital Products: Antecedents And Consequences

Objective of this work is to explore the antecedents and consequences of the digital piracy, adapting the theory of reasoned action. This paper focuses on Thai youths’ piracy behavior since Thailand has a high piracy rate and young consumers are the main piracy group. Qualitative approach with survey questionnaires is applied. Two hundred and twenty three samples are collected. Findings reveal that three important factors to the intention to download or buy illegitimate products are subjective norms, attitudes towards digital piracy, and perceived moral obligation. High perceived moral obligation also lower the subjective norms and attitudes towards the digital piracy. The general intention to commit digital piracy has significant influence on downloading or buying software, movies, and music. Female youths have less intention to pirate than male youths. Implications for copyrighted owners, parents, and teachers are discussed

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON SOFTWARE PIRACY BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA

Software piracy in China has been a serious problem for decades. This paper builds on an existing software piracy model and adds a cultural dimension. We aim to study the differences between the U.S. and Chinese college students on their attitude toward software piracy, perceived punishment, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and piracy intention. Through the data analysis, we aim to find the key factors that influence the piracy intent, to identify the differences between the Chinese and Americans, and to provide insights to fight piracy in China

Comparative Empirical Analysis on Computer Software Piracy Behaviors between China and the United States: An Exploratory Study

Using the data collected from several universities in China and the United States, which have drastically different piracy rates, economic development stages, income levels, and national cultures, this study aims to identify which demographic factors affect software piracy significantly. Totally, the dataset includes 600 valid responses. Multivariate data analysis, supported by Multivariate Analysis of Variance and Turkey’s test, reveals that among various factors, country difference and gender most significantly influence software piracy. In addition, this study offers recommendations on how to curb software piracy effectively

SOCIAL DESIRABILITY BIAS IN SOFTWARE PIRACY RESEARCH

Most behavioural aspects of software piracy research are a subset of ethical research. Measures of ethical behaviour in research may be subject to biases in response to the social desirability of behaviours. Few studies in the area of software piracy have explicitly addressed this issu. Literature on social desirability bias (SDB) reports on three ways to address response bias: approaches to reduce bias, approaches to detect bias, and approaches to correct bias. In the current article, the published methods to reduce, detect, and, correct bias are reviewed. Then, the extent of SDB that may be present in the published software piracy literature is subjectively assessed. A study is proposed in which piracy behaviours involving real money are compared to the intent to pirate in paper-based scenarios, under equivalent conditions. The comparison is argud to be useful in compensating for SDB in future research

The Moderating Effect of Social Influence on Ethical Decision Making in Software Piracy

Software piracy has been a serious problem for decades and continues to cost software industry some billions of dollars each year. In this study we examine the Normative and Informational Social Influences that affect an individual’s decision to buy or use pirated software. Based upon previous research about ethical decision making in software adoption, and consumer susceptibility to social influence, we develop a research model designed to test the moderating effects of social influence on the ethical decision making process. An online survey is conducted to collect data. Our research extends the knowledge about software piracy and provides valuable and important insights for researchers, practitioners and policy/strategy makers in government

Growth of ICT and ICT for Development: Realities of the Myths of the Indian Experience

ICT, growth, development, India, software exports

The influence of ethical attitudes and purchase behaviour for pirated software

This study investigates the ethical attitudes and purchase behaviour of Indonesian consumers towards software piracy. While previous studies have uncovered various motivations that drive consumers from different countries to engage in this undesirable behaviour, changes in the business landscape, including advancement in technology, necessitates a revisit into the attitudes and purchase intentions towards pirated software. It is found that habitual behaviour, integrity, facilitating conditions, and personal gratification are significant predictors of consumers' attitudes towards software piracy. Habitual behaviour and facilitating conditions are also found to be predictors of purchase intention. In contrast to prior studies, collectivism, normative and informative susceptibility, and value consciousness do not influence either attitudes towards and purchase intentions of pirated software. The main implication of this study is the clear indication that different strategies need to be formulated to curb software piracy in an emerging economy such as Indonesia

Pirated software: ethical attitudes and purchase behaviour of consumers

This study investigates the ethical attitudes and purchase behaviour of Indonesian consumers towards software piracy. While previous studies have uncovered various motivations that drive consumers from different countries to engage in this undesirable behaviour, changes in the business landscape, including advancement in technology, necessitates a revisit into the attitudes and purchase intentions towards pirated software. It is found that habitual behaviour, integrity, facilitating conditions, and personal gratification are significant predictors of consumers’ attitudes towards software piracy. Habitual behaviour and facilitating conditions are also found to be predictors of purchase intention. In contrast to prior studies, collectivism, normative and informative susceptibility, and value consciousness do not influence either attitudes towards and purchase intentions of pirated software. The main implication of this study is the clear indication that different strategies need to be formulated to curb software piracy in an emerging economy such as Indonesia