A couple of guys -- one a professor at Duke University and the other someone who works at the US Department of Justice -- did a study to figure out why some college students download music illegally.
I don't know about you, but if someone whose letterhead had the words "Department of Justice" on it asked me about illegal music downloading, I would probably respond something like, "I think recorded music has never really been as good since they stopped using wax cylinders. And by the way, have you met my attorney?" So I wonder if the Duke prof really thought through his choice of partner.
Anyway, these two fellows develop some formulas for figuring out a student's willingess to pay (WTP) for the music. Turns out it has to do with several factors. One of them is cost -- if the music costs too much, the WTP goes down. Other factors include "a subjective assessment of the of the probability that she will face a lawsuit" and the hypothetical student's "personal morality."
In other words, if the music doesn't cost too much, and students think they're likely to get sued by a record company, and if they think taking stuff you didn't pay for is wrong, then they probably won't download music illegally.
It would definitely require a college education to figure that out.
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