[liberationtech] The Research Bay

[Marcin de Kaminski]

Dear all,

During three days in April last year the Cybernorms Research Group
conducted a big survey study called The Research Bay in cooperation with
the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. The aim was to explore the
demographics of the file-sharing community on site, using the huge user
base of The Pirate Bay to grasp what the file-sharing phenomenon (and
debate) is all about. The response was tremendous. During the three days
we got over 75.000 answers from all parts of the world, which gave us a
great insight and an even greater collection of data regarding issues
like file-sharing, anonymization, leech/seed ratio and much more.

Now we are doing it again. Three days from today, meaning from Wednesday
to Friday this week, we once again are on the front of The Pirate Bay.
The survey is very similar to the one we used last year, with minor
changes and additions. This to make the data as comparable as possible.

Our survey is not the first study that deals with file-sharing. Within
the Cybernorms Research Group we have several others that we use to
compare and even deeper understand the issues that interest us. Other
researchers have done similar work in other contexts. Still, we think
that it is most vital to explore the field from within. This is why we
have chosen to partner up with a site like The Pirate Bay.

If you want to read more about the Cybernorms Research Group and the
researchers connected to it, please check out www.cybernorms.net or the
Swedish blog at www.cybernormer.se - and also the attached email thread
from earlier on this list.

Best,
Marcin


-------- Ursprungligt meddelande --------
Ämne: Re: [liberationtech] Young File-Sharers Respond To Tough Laws By
Buying a VPN
Datum: Wed, 02 May 2012 12:12:38 +0200
Från: Marcin de Kaminski <marcin at dekaminski.se>
Till: liberationtech <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>

Hey James,

Thanks for spreading the word.

The study that Torrentfreak wrote about is a part of the Cybernorms
Research Group and our studies regarding social norm strength related to
legal interventions and sanctions regarding online usage.

This study was the third in a series of identical studies, conducted in
feb 09 (during the TPB trial and pre-IPRED); oct 09 (post-IPRED) and feb
12 (long term post-IPRED and in the middle of a new enforcement campaign
against filesharers in Sweden).

The first is described here:
http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol2/iss4/art4/

The second here:
http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/04/09/1461444812439553.abstract

The third is accepted, but needs to go through some peer review first
before publishing.

The linked articles should be possible to download if you're on an
university network. Or if you have such friends...

Best,
Marcin


James Losey skrev 2012-05-02 11.36:
> Hi All,
> 
> Fascinating article from Torrent Freak on the growing data obfuscation arms
> race: use of VPNs by younger users is up 40% over the last couple years. I
> look forward tow reading the full study.
> http://torrentfreak.com/young-file-sharers-respond-to-tough-laws-by-buying-a-vpn-120501/
> 
> Best,
> James
> 


-- 
Marcin de Kaminski: Internet researcher, adviser, analyst

Phone: 0768-045151 (Int: 0046768045151)
WWW: http://www.dekaminski.se
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dekaminski