A recent study by Australian based research company Sycamore, revealed that 39 percent of Singaporeans are active internet pirates who solicit copyrighted content like films, software and music from online sites that provide them illegally.
These findings come on the heels of another recent study conducted by MUSO, an anti-piracy technology company providing content protection, market tracking and audience connection solutions, which ranked Singapore as ninth in the world on its Piracy Demand Rank. The index looks at the bigger picture and categorises each country in terms of its engagement with piracy when ranked against other countries.
The main motivations for using pirated content are that they are free, easy to find and simple to use.
From 1,000 people who are polled, between the ages of 18 and 64, 14 percent of them admitted to using ISD (illicit streaming devices) especially TV boxes which are used to stream pirated content from the internet.
Users could just plug the device and play the content. When it is not functioning properly, all users had to do was to rely on the oldest troubleshooting trick in the book, which is to restart the device.
“Nobody has said this is totally right or wrong. It’s a bit in a grey area,” said one respondent highlighted in the study. This suggests that typically, users are aware of the legality of their actions but are unconcerned and rationalise their actions anyway.
It was also discovered that for most Singaporeans, accessing pirated films and songs online is considered a socially accepted behaviour. 73 percent of respondents agreed that it is something that everyone does nowadays although a fair share of respondents also admitted that their actions constitute to stealing or theft.
The study concluded that to limit piracy, the onus first lies on the individual to stop pirating by recognising their actions are first and foremost, unlawful. Beyond that, the responsibility lies with the government, pirate sites and the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) alike.