Two-thirds of U.S. college students see nothing unethical about downloading copyrighted music without paying, according a survey conducted by the Business Software Alliance.
The national survey also indicated that illegal downloading practices extend beyond the college campus and into the workplace. The survey suggests that music-sharing is a gateway practice into downloading software and other files.
Several colleges across the country have introduced a fee included in tuition to cover the cost of a file-sharing program. At Penn, many students have expressed interest in such a program, but most said that they would not want to have to pay a mandatory fee for the service.
Penn students seem to share the majority belief that downloading copyrighted music presents no ethical dilemma.
Lindsey Wu, who graduated from the School of Engineering and Applied Science in May, said, "I don't think it's unethical. People still buy CDs and usually only download to preview music."
Many students surveyed cited the lack of quality music available on CDs as justification for downloading music off the Web.
College senior Kim Lengle said she legally downloads music from Apple's file-sharing program iTunes so that she does not have to buy an entire album in order to listen to the few songs she enjoys.
"I think that what leads people to download music is not the cost of an album, but rather the quality of all [the] songs on the album. No one likes to buy an album with a majority of songs that they don't like," Lengle said.
Across college campuses, illegal downloading of music has become the norm, which worries the music industry.
Forty-five percent of college students currently use campus networks for downloading activities. University officials around the country are worried that the high-speed Internet access offered on campuses has contributed to widespread nature of illegal downloading.
Several programs are currently available that offer downloadable music either for a monthly fee or on a pay-per-song basis.
Rebecca Safley, a recent College graduate, said, "I used the [paid] Napster service, and it was a great idea."
But Wharton graduate student Carlos Guerra finds the current pay options not to be feasible.
"I think [$0.99 per song] is too expensive, and it's not realistic to expect students to pay that much," he said.
Unlike many of his fellow students on campus, graduate student Dan Leung thinks illegal downloading is unethical.
"But," he adds, "I do it anyway."
Rong Rong Xu, a Wharton senior, offered an explanation for the apparent disconnect between beliefs and actions for someone like Leung.
"It's the whole group mentality. If somebody else can [download music], then why can't I? It justifies the illegal act, and it becomes a generally accepted practice," he said.
