Illegally downloading music through peer-topeer networks has persisted in spite of legal action to deter the behavior. This study examines the individual characteristics of downloaders which could explain why they are not dissuaded by messages that downloading is illegal. We compared downloaders to non-downloaders and examined whether downloaders were characterized by less ethical concern, engagement in illegal behavior, and a propensity toward stealing a CD from a music store under varying levels of risk. We also examined whether downloading or individual (...) characteristics of downloaders were similar for men and women. Findings revealed downloading was prevalent (74.5% of the student sample downloaded), men and women were equally likely to download and the factors characterizing downloading were similar for men and women. The comparison between downloaders and nondownloaders revealed downloaders were less concerned with the law, demonstrated by less ethical concern and engagement in other illegal behaviors. Downloaders were also more likely to indicate that they would steal a CD when there was no risk of being caught. Given these results, messages regarding illegality are unlikely to perturb downloaders and alternative recommendations are offered for targeting illegal downloading. (shrink)

This paper focuses on segmenting digital movie and TV series pirates and on investigating the effectiveness of piracy-combatting measures i.e., legal and educational strategies, in light of these segments. To address these research objectives, two online studies were conducted. First, 1277 valid responses were gathered with an online survey. Four pirate segments were found based on differing combinations of attitude toward piracy, ethical evaluation of piracy and feelings of guilt. The anti-pirate, conflicted pirate, cavalier pirate, and die-hard pirate can be (...) placed on a continuum of increasing pirating frequency, subjective norm, pirating self-efficacy, habit, and decreasing in perceived harm, respectively. The segments also differ in deontological and teleological orientations. Second, in an experimental mixed design, we find that the educational strategy is more effective than the legal strategy in lowering pirating intentions for the conflicted and cavalier pirate. However, both strategies fail at lowering intentions of the die-hard pirate, although perceived harm and perceived impunity were significantly influenced. These findings offer a more profound understanding of pirate segments and how they react differently to piracy-combatting measures. As a result, better strategies can be developed to control digital piracy. (shrink)

Although downloading music through unapproved channels is illegal, statistics indicate that it is widespread. The following study examines the attitudes and perceptions of college students that are potentially engaged in music downloading. The methodology includes a content analysis of the recommendations written to answer an ethical vignette. The vignette presented the case of a subject who faces the dilemma of whether or not to download music illegally. Analyses of the final reports indicate that there is a vast and inconsistent array (...) of actions and underlying feelings toward digital music downloading. The findings reveal inconsistencies between participants’ recommendations (what the subject should do) and their attitudes and opinions on the matter (what they would do in a similar situation). These inconsistencies support the notion that as technology evolves, it creates discrepancies between the way things are and the way the law expects them to be, leaving society in a muddle, trying to reconcile the two. What remains to be seen is whether the discrepancy in the case of music downloading becomes extreme enough that the law changes to accommodate an increasingly prevalent behavior, or whether new business models will emerge to bridge the gap between legality and reality. (shrink)

The purpose of this research was to investigate, for the first time, tertiary education students’ ethical judgements in the Republic of Cyprus academic environment. The authors developed and administered a quantitative questionnaire to a sample of 1,000 individuals currently pursuing accredited degrees at two tertiary institutions. Statistical analysis revealed four factors, named violation of school regulations, selfishness, cheating, and computer ethics that describe students’ ethical judgements in the academic environment. The results indicate that students exhibit the lowest tolerance with ethical (...) issues relevant with selfishness and highest with issues relevant with computer ethics. In addition, a number of differences were revealed when the authors investigated the relationship between the four retained factors and variables such as gender, year of study, type of academic discipline, and religion. Finally, reflecting on the research findings, a number of practical recommendations are made mainly to educational institutions that wish to redefine their policies and procedures regarding ethics within their academic environment. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the intention of students to pirate academic e-books by integrating three main theories: ethics theory, deterrence theory, and the theory of planned behavior. The study also examines the moderating role of past piracy behavior on the relationship between the factors in the previously mentioned theories and students’ piracy intention.,The data were collected using a convenience sample of 662 university students. Based on their past behaviors, the students were grouped (...) into “no piracy” and “piracy” groups.,The result shows that the piracy intention of both the no-piracy and piracy groups has a similar influence based on the moral obligation in ethics theory. The factors in the deterrence theory, which includes fear of legal consequences and perceived likelihood of punishment, have no significant impact on the attitudes of the two groups toward piracy. While the intention of the no-piracy group is not influenced by other internal factors, such as self-efficacy, or by external factors, such as subjective norms and facilitating conditions, the behavioral intention of the piracy group is significantly influenced by these three factors.,This study only focuses on piracy attitude and behavior in the context of e-books.,In Indonesia, the insignificant impact of factors from deterrence theory (the fear of legal consequences and perceived punishment) indicates weak law enforcement to combat digital piracy. Thus, it is imperative that law enforcement, especially regarding piracy, should be enhanced.,The significant role of ethics in the attitudes toward piracy indicates that morality serves as a moral compass to fight piracy behavior. The strong impact of subjective norms, especially in the piracy group, suggests that families should raise children and educate youth with beliefs that align with the concepts of morality.,The study integrates three theories that are most often used in piracy behavior studies: ethics theory, deterrence theory, and theory of planned behavior. In addition, the study provides empirical evidence on the moderating role of past experience in piracy behavior. (shrink)

Due to the development of information technology, music piracy has become an escalating problem. This study attempts to employ the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the social identity theory to investigate the antecedents of downloading pop music illegally from the Internet, the relationship between the intention to illegally download music and the intention to buy music, and the moderating effects of idolatry. Data were collected from 350 teenagers in Northern Taiwan through questionnaire interviews conducted in city centers where teenagers (...) gather. The results of partial least squares (PLS) analyses reconfirm the explanatory power of the TPB model with regard to the pop music illegal downloading behavior. However, it is interesting to note that the intention to illegally download music does not have a significant influence on the intention to buy music. This finding contradicts our common intuitions. Further analyses also reveal that idolatry moderates the relationship between the intention to illegally download music and the intention to buy music. For teenagers with high idolatry, a higher music downloading intention results in a lower buying intention. One possible explanation is the price of music CDs. Several interviews were also held to verify our results. Implications and a discussion are then provided. (shrink)

This study analyzed consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for non-pirated computer software and examined how attitudes toward intellectual property rights and perceived risk affect WTPs. Two commonly used software products, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, were used in the study as objects to reveal consumer assessed values. A consumer survey was administered in Taiwan and the total valid samples were 799. Respondents in this study included students from senior high schools, colleges, and graduate schools, and general consumers who were no (...) longer full-time students. The estimated average WTP for Windows was USD 58.55 and for Office was USD 53.49, much lower than the respective suggested retail prices in the market. Social norms had strong positive influences on willingness-to-pay for software products. The prosecution risk did not significantly increase WTPs for software products due to the reason that individuals who used pirated software were not at a high risk of being prosecuted. Performance risk was positively correlated to WTPs for software products. The respondents segmented into the low-WTP cluster were more likely to use pirated software than those in the high-WTP segment. Source reliability, legitimacy, technical support, and customer service were emphasized in decisions of respondents in the high-WTP segment and could be used in marketing strategies. (shrink)

Accountants are neither devoid of ethical dilemmas nor are they immune from financial scandals. In order to improve the credibility of the profession, it is important to study the personal values that qualified and trainee accountants consider important. Using Maccoby's instrument, which measures ‘head’ and ‘heart’ values, qualified accountants (chartered and certified) and trainee accountants were surveyed for the first time in a European Union member country (Cyprus) to ascertain their character ethical traits/personal values. Accountants were found to value ‘head’ (...) more than ‘heart’ traits and there were no gender differences. For male respondents, age and years of professional experience were significant correlates of the importance attributed to head traits, while having religious beliefs was associated with valuing heart traits more. Finally, the implications for accounting education and the professional bodies are considered. (shrink)

Accountants are neither devoid of ethical dilemmas nor are they immune from financial scandals. In order to improve the credibility of the profession, it is important to study the personal values that qualified and trainee accountants consider important. Using Maccoby's instrument, which measures ‘head’ and ‘heart’ values, qualified accountants (chartered and certified) and trainee accountants were surveyed for the first time in a European Union member country (Cyprus) to ascertain their character ethical traits/personal values. Accountants were found to value ‘head’ (...) more than ‘heart’ traits and there were no gender differences. For male respondents, age and years of professional experience were significant correlates of the importance attributed to head traits, while having religious beliefs was associated with valuing heart traits more. Finally, the implications for accounting education and the professional bodies are considered. (shrink)

Most of research on fostering ethical behavior among students has taken place in US and Europe. This paper seeks to provide additional information to both educators and organizations about the ethical perceptions of Iranian students by investigating the effect of gender on students’ ethical behavior. The authors developed and administered a quantitative questionnaire to a sample of 203 individuals currently pursuing accredited degrees at one of the public universities in Iran. Statistical analysis revealed that male students have a significantly less (...) ethical behavior in three factors (selfishness, academic cheating and computer ethics) than female students. While the topic of students’ ethical behavior and its relationship with gender has been extensively studied before, there have been contrasting findings by different researchers. This paper is among the very few first researches conducted among Iranian university students to investigate the effects of gender on students’ ethical behavior under the four categories of violation of school regulations, selfishness, academic cheating, and computer ethics, hence making an important contribution to the ethics literature on the developing countries, since the study was conducted in Iran. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the salient factors that influence accounting students to engage in software and music piracy. This study uses the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior, and extends these models to incorporate other variables to predict individuals’ behavioral intentions. Specifically, we hypothesize that attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, moral obligation and perceived prosecution risk influence intentions to engage in software and music piracy. Data were obtained from (...) 237 university accounting students in a Caribbean university to assess the influence of the components of the theories and other modified and extended models. Findings reveal that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, moral obligation and perceived prosecution risk significantly influence intentions to engage in software and music piracy. These findings lend full support to the hypothesized relationships in our extended theory of planned behavior. (shrink)

This paper aims at investigating the perceived difference between ethics and IT ethics in college students. The study mainly investigates whether university students in the Middle East and their counterpart in the USA hold the same ethical values both in a traditional context and in an IT context. The study also investigates possible differences in students’ ethics considering their level of study and whether they have prior business ethics knowledge or not. Furthermore, the study controls for possible self-others bias in (...) students’ responses to ethical issues by addressing some ethical issues where the respondent is the subject of the issue and other ethical issues where someone other than the respondent is the subject of the issue. Questionnaires were administered to university students in the USA and in several Middle East countries. A total of 401 usable questionnaires were returned. The study found that both the USA and the Middle East students have statistically significant lower ethical intention scores when addressing ethical issues in an IT context compared to traditional non-IT context. This pattern was consistent regardless of the students’ level of study and their prior knowledge of business ethics, and taking into consideration self-others bias. Additionally, it was found that graduate students have higher IT as well as non-IT ethical intentions compared to undergraduate students, however, it was found that the students’ prior business ethics knowledge did not affect the students’ ethical intention scores. Self-other bias was found to act in opposite directions for ethical issues in an IT context compared to ethical issues in a traditional context. For ethical issues within IT-context, students were less strict with themselves while they were stricter with others. For ethical issues within traditional non-IT context, students were stricter with themselves, while they were less strict with others. Finally, the study found that while students both in the USA and in the Middle East disagree with unethical IT as well as non-IT conducts, the degree to which they disagree with the unethical behavior significantly differ, where USA students were found to be significantly stricter with their disagreement. (shrink)

PurposeThe information technology related ethical issues will only increase in frequency and complexity with the increasing diffusion of IT in economies and societies. The purpose of this paper is to explore Egyptian students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, access, property, and accuracy, and it evaluates the possible impact of a number of personal characteristics on such attitudes.Design/methodology/approachThis research utilized a cross‐sectional sample and data set to test five hypotheses. It adopted an instrument to collect the respondents' background (...) information and assess their attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, property, accuracy, and access. Egyptian business students at Alexandria University were asked to participate in the survey. A total of 305 responses were collected and analyzed.FindingsThe analysis revealed that students are sensitive to the ethicality of information privacy, information accuracy, and information access. However, students are insensitive to the ethicality of property right. In addition, years of education have a main effect on students' attitudes towards property, and gender and age have an interaction effect on students' attitudes towards access.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this research are based on a cross‐sectional data set collected from a sample of business students at a public university. Students, however, may make poor surrogates for business or IT professionals. Future similar research designs that employ large samples from Egyptian working professionals and students in other private and public universities are needed to verify the findings of this research.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that the investigated university as well as the other similar Egyptian universities should consider integrating ethics education into their curricula. Teaching information ethics, especially from an Islamic perspective, is expected to positively influence students' information ethical attitudes. The enforcement of the existing property right protection laws should also curb software piracy in the Egyptian market.Originality/valueIt is vital to expand the ethical research currently being performed in IT in order to help bridge the gap between behavior and IT. The findings of this research extend the understanding of students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues in Egyptian culture and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on global information ethics. (shrink)

Software piracy, the illegal and unauthorized duplication, sale, or distribution of software, is a widespread and costly phenomenon. According to Business Software Alliance, over 41% of the PC software packages installed worldwide were unauthorized copies. Software piracy behavior has been investigated for more than 30 years. However, after a review of the relevant literature, there appears to be two voids in this literature: a lack of studies in non-Western countries and a scarcity of process studies. This study contributes to literature (...) by developing a software piracy model to better understand the decision-making process that underlies this unethical behavior. The model was tested using data collected from a sample of 323 undergraduate business students. Consistent with the Theory of Reasoned Action, attitudes toward software piracy and subjective norms were significant predictors of intention to pirate software. Also, the results suggested that ethical ideology, public self-consciousness, and low self-control moderated the effect of these variables on intention to pirate software. The results have important practical implications for the software industry and governments hoping to curtail software piracy. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future studies are discussed as well. (shrink)