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P2P Users More Likely to Cheat, Shoplift
prostoalex writes "New research report (sponsored by the recording industry, so should definitely be objective) suggests that those who download music online are also likely to cheat at schools/universities and to shoplift. From the Globe and Mail: 'Not only does music file-swapping harm artists, but it also points to an erosion of respect for intellectual property that threatens Canada's economy and values at the core of our society,' said Graham Henderson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, which commissioned the polls."
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php has some good comments on the two recent studies from the CRIA, plus some interesting comments on how various groups have been viewing them.
This has been a test. Had this been a real emergency, we would have fled in terror and you would not have been informed.
Most people have already pointed out the correlation!=causality problem with this study, but here are a couple of more issues:
1. This was done via a survey, so what that means is that people who admit to filesharing are more likely to admit to shoplifting and cheating. The "admit to" part is significant and was left out of the findings.
2. The argument appears to work like this: people 12-25 years old are most like to fileshare, and are most likely to shoplift, so therefor people who are likely to fileshare are likely to shoplift. In other words, A->B, A->C, therefor B->C.
So my basic interpretation of this one is along the lines of the "masturbation will make you go blind" argument: An utterly false statement that if true would make an otherwise relatively harmless activity seem harmful.
I am officially gone from
From the Washington Post
From the Harvard Buisness School
From New Scientist
There are tons more out there.
Actually, the drinking age varies by province.
Drinking age in most of Canada is 19. It's ony 18 in Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba.
Why doesn't Slashdot ever get slashdotted?
because if you get caught, the punishment of shoplifting is significantly lower than sharing music online.
Also shop lifting is trial by peer in the criminal court where you might get a more fair trial.