Correlates of Digital Piracy Among Youth

• In Event: Cross National Perspectives on Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

Despite the presence of intellectual property laws and regulations, the prevalence rate for digital piracy remains one of the highest among industrialized and developing countries in Asia. Given that the majority of existing studies have relied on US college samples, it is valuable to explore the factors associated with digital piracy among adolescents in non-Western cultures. Using a South Korean youth sample and logistic regression, the current study found that association with deviant peers as well as attitudinal and perception indicators are linked with one's participation in digital piracy. These findings suggest that in addition to deviant peers, an individual’'s moral attitude toward and legal perception of intellectual property theft play a crucial role in the illegal downloading and unauthorized sharing of pirated content among youth. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Authors

• Byung Lee, Central Connecticut State University

• Seung Yeop Paek, Michigan State University

• Seokjin Jeong, University of Texas at Arlington