(16 February 2008 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Software major Microsoft has announced the results of a new survey.

This has found that teenagers between seventh and 10th grades in the US are less likely to illegally download content from the internet when they know the laws for downloading and sharing content online.

About half of those teens, however, said that they were not familiar with these laws, and only 11 per cent of them clearly understood the current rules for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software. Teens who were familiar with downloading rules credited their parents, TV or stories in magazines and newspapers, and websites — more so than their schools — as resources for information about illegal downloading.

Microsoft global manager (genuine software initiative) Sherri Erickson says, “Widespread access to the internet has amplified the issue of intellectual property rights among children and teens. This survey provides more insight into the disparity between IP awareness and young people today, and highlights the opportunity for schools to help prepare their students to be good online citizens.”

Microsoft has enlisted Topics Education, a developer of custom curricula, to help launch the pilot of a broad-based curriculum for middle school and high school educators titled “Intellectual Property Rights Education.” The curriculum is focused on preparing students for the digital age, helping them understand in a meaningful way how intellectual property rights affect their lives and sparking discussion to clarify the “gray areas” in protected and shared content.

To complement the curriculum and enhance the learning experience, Microsoft is also launching an interactive website, www.mybytes.com, where kids can develop their own intellectual property and assign usage rights by mixing music online to create a custom riff that they can download as a ringtone.

• A lack of familiarity with the rules and guidelines for downloading from the internet contributes to teen opinions that punishment is unnecessary.

• Almost half of the teenagers surveyed (49 per cent) said they are not familiar with the rules and guidelines for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software from the internet. Only one in 10 (11 per cent) said they understood the rules "very well."

• Among teenagers who said they were familiar with the laws, more than eight in 10 (82 per cent) said illegal downloaders should be punished. In contrast, slightly more than half (57 per cent) of those unfamiliar with the laws said violators should be punished.

• In general, teenagers regard illegal downloading over the internet as less offensive than other forms of stealing.

• Less than half of the teens surveyed (48 per cent) indicated punishment was appropriate for illegal downloading, while 90 per cent indicated punishment was appropriate for stealing a bike.

• Teens rely on parents for rules on downloading.

• Teens report that their parents are their main source of information about what they can and cannot do online. Reinforcing the role of parents is the finding that some of the strongest deterrents to stealing and illegally sharing content are the prospective consequences.

• Among teens who download or share content online, boys are more likely than girls to say that they would not continue after being told the rules to download or share content over the internet without paying for it or gaining the owner’s permission (76 per cent vs. 68 per cent, respectively).

• Teens are challenged by peer pressure and their wallets.

• Among teens, peer pressure and cost also have a strong influence on attitudes toward illegal downloading.