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Illegal Media File Sharing: The Impact of Cultural and Demographic Factors

The purpose of this article is to examine the ethics and economics behind the illegal file-sharing phenomena. A model of media evasion that adjusts for demographics, locus of control, and cultural aspects is developed to examine individual behavior. Using an expanded survey instrument at three universities (a private Midwest Christian liberal arts school, a public Division II university, and a public historically black college), data are collected on both student attitudes toward and actual propensity to illegally download music and other forms of multimedia. With a total sample of 302 individuals, logistic regression results indicate that age and internal locus of control tendencies are positively associated with moral attitudes, while age is the only demographic variable that is negatively associated with reduced illegal behavior. The cultural/religious results indicate that (1) self-reported religiosity has no effect on a person's attitude toward the morality of file sharing, and (2) frequency of attending religious services (“religious intensity”), particularly among those who indicate they are of the Christian faith, has a significantly positive effect on a person's attitude toward the morality of file sharing, but (3) neither of these two factors have a significant effect on actual illegal behavior.