1/3 of the parents may not know but the other 2/3 either don't care or are the ones hosting the illegal mp3 and movies hehe. Quite frankly it's a lot different then shoplifting and I seriously doubt that parents will sit their kid down and have a good ole' fashion chat with them. I mean they save over $15 per song/movie they download. Also, unlike shoplifting, the chances of them getting caught and penalized for it are very very slim.

I'd like to see them DO something about it. Hah, they can't! It's extremely common anyhow.. what do they expect people to listen to it? Piracy is illegal yes, but they need to go after the main sources. Arresting certain individuals won't get them anywhere. There's not much of a way to track except for those damned spywares. Isn't that illegal because of the intrusion of one's privacy?

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nearly 40 percent of parents in a US survey were unaware they were violating copyrights by swapping music or movies over the Internet, according to a survey released.


The survey by Nielsen NRG for the Motion Picture Association of America found that despite increasing media attention, two out of five parents who participated in the survey know that their kids download music and movies over the Internet but did not know it was illegal.

In addition, the survey found one-third of those parents who have downloaded movies and music learned how to do so from their kids.

The MPAA, which represents the major Hollywood studios and has joined the music labels in fighting piracy, said the survey shows parents still have a lot to learn.

"The good news is there is an abundance of information available to parents about safe, affordable and legal ways for their kids to enjoy the digital entertainment they love," said Rich Taylor, vice president of public affairs for MPAA.

"Once parents take the time to get the facts and have the increasingly important 'download discussion,' they are taking yet one more step in keeping their family safe and raising good 'digital citizens.'"

Robin Raskin, a technology expert cited in the MPAA statement, says the survey indicates that parents are either unaware of the consequences of illegally swapping files or burying their heads in the sand.

"Parents have a lot on their plates these days, but if they realized the severity and consequences surrounding the issue of irresponsible downloading, they'd understand why addressing it with their kids is as important as teaching them not to shoplift," she said.

"The same caring and conscientious parents who dedicate themselves to making sure that their kids are safe and conduct themselves lawfully and ethically in the real world abandon that role in cyberspace."

The survey of 396 people was conducted between February 25 and March 4. All respondents were parents with children between the ages of 12 and 17 and had a computer with Internet access.

Well said my love...They are trying to argue how downloading pirated software is illegal, yet they are using illegal means to find people who download them. That's sort of like police breaking down your door and searching your home without a search warrant. You just can't do that and expect the information you secure to stick in front of a judge. Individual right have to be safeguarded too, even if they are doing illegal things. Not everyone is a bad guy in this, and as you pointed out...its completely common to download your favorite music these days.
I don't know if I mentioned this to you <3 but Microsoft is using XBOX Live network to scan people's harddrives to see if they have been modded. I don't know if its just for personal survey, or if they have future plans to take actions against illegal modders.

Actually there are 2 ways of tracking people down in this situation.

First, of course is the spyware. And as you said it was illegal.

Second there was another method. Last year, music companies had a supoena aginst internet companie which they have to fork over thier logs from all the users. Of course one company rebelled agtainst it. SBC had a DSL plan which your ip was resetted once you logged of and thier ip logs were reset. Well SBC bieng the largest telephone company had put back this supeona and thus allowing the ip resets to go on. Now thats one way though i aint endorsing it.

Pretty much, You can never stop this illegal downloading of music video pics etc......

Hawhaw, right on :D I mean <whistles> be good kids! One way to prevent leaking out private user information is deleting their logs and such at the end of the day. Then you can say you honestly don't have them! Although I think it's a little more complicated than that :(

Tis' true

What it does is it changes your ip everytime you log off. Kinda like a key generator but for ip's. See this company uses it's own modems and has a modification to it which enables the ip resets.