Does software piracy always represent consumer misbehaviour?

This study aims to explore whether or not software piracy is perceived as consumer misbehaviour in Libya. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used; data were collected by interviewing 10 marketers and through a questionnaire surveying 219 Libyan consumers. The study found that almost all of the software in the Libyan market is copied in ways that would be considered illegal in Western societies but the marketers interviewed did not consider this as misbehaviour. Instead, some of them were actively encouraging consumers to adopt this pattern of behaviour. Also, nearly half (49.4%) of the sample had positive attitudes toward software piracy and 43% had an intention to conduct this behaviour. Furthermore, only 34% of consumers thought that software piracy is illegal, despite laws existing that protect intellectual property rights

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

Computer Ethics Awareness Among Undergraduate Students in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

This study investigates the ethical awareness of computer use among undergraduate computer science students at two public Malaysian universities. One hundred and fifty-nine students were asked to evaluate the code of ethics pertaining to computer ethics. A comparison of undergraduate computer science students between two public universities was done to determine the level of ethical awareness of computer use. Independent Samples T-test for differences was performed across four distinct groups, that is, university, gender, age, and duration of computer use. The results of the tests conducted indicate that the ethical awareness of computer use of the students differ most significantly on the basis of the university itself. There were minimal differences across gender, age and duration of computer use. This suggests that computer ethics awareness training is needed for university users. The results are discussed and the implications for studies in an education context are outlined

Managing Dwindling Online Music Sales: Analyzing Factors Affecting Global Music Piracy

Piracy adversely impacts online music sales. This paper aims to investigate the factors that affect global music piracy directly and e-business indirectly. The factors can be clubbed into four categories, (i) economic, (ii) technological (iii)legal/regulatory, (iv) behavioral/cultural. On analyzing the data of 55 countries, Intellectual Property Protection, trade freedom, income inequality and individualism/collectivism index of a country emerge as the most significant factors affecting music piracy. Hence, a nation can reduce its music piracy rate and enhance e-business by devising stricter laws to safeguard intellectual property, allowing more free trade with other countries and bridging the income inequality within a country

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

Information Policy Country Report: Singapore

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64846/1/IPOL country report - Singapore (2009).pd

Are We Wielding this Hammer Correctly? A Reflective Review of the Application of Cluster Analysis in Information Systems Research

Cluster analysis is a powerful statistical procedure for extricating natural configurations among the data and the populations. Cluster analysis, with its seemingly limitless power to produce groupings in any dataset, has all the trappings of a super-technique. However, the method produces clusters even in the absence of any natural structure in the data, and has no statistical basis to reject the null hypothesis that there are no natural groupings in the data. Application of cluster analysis, therefore, presupposes sound researcher judgment and responsible analysis and reporting. This paper summarizes the results of a reflective review of the application of cluster analysis in Information Systems (IS) research published in major IS outlets. Based on the analysis of 55 IS applications of cluster analysis, various deficiencies noticed in its use are discussed along with suggestions for future practice. By analyzing the results over two time periods, longitudinal trends in the application of this technique are highlighted

Understanding adolescents' unethical online behaviors: A structural equation approach

A project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Library and Information Management at The University of Hong KongThis study employed a revised model of theory of planned behavior (TPB), which synthesized perspective from social cognitive theory, to understand the unethical/risky online behaviors of adolescents. Two forms of unethical online behaviors, namely plagiarism and unauthorized acts were examined. A stratified random sample of 757 Secondary two students in Hong Kong was obtained. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model was in general consistent with TPB, and it explained 54.8% and 48.0% of the variances in plagiarism and unauthorized acts respectively. It was found that peers' unethical behaviors were the most influential in shaping students' intention to act unethically. General measurements of ICT attitude and ICT literacy were also found to be applicable in the TPB framework, and a strong positive association was observed between these two constructs. Interestingly, neither plagiarism intention nor plagiarism behavior was related to ICT literacy, whereas unauthorized acts' intention influenced both forms of unethical behaviors. Implications of the findings for educators are discussed.published_or_final_versio