by Melanie G. Snyder
Could your child be a pirate? No, not a one-eyed
swashbuckler stealing gold and jewels, but one who
copies or downloads copyrighted materials, including
software, music and games, without paying for them.
A new poll from Harris Interactive found that a
majority of youth are aware that digital media files
are copyrighted, yet many of them admit to
downloading files anyway. More than half of all 8-18
year olds have downloaded music, a third have
downloaded games and nearly a quarter have
downloaded software illegally from the Internet.
When asked about the ethics of downloading software,
music or games that are available for sale in a
store or online without paying for them, less than
half of the youth surveyed thought it was wrong.
These are the pirates of the 21st century. Piracy is
stealing
“Parents need to help children understand that
it’s not okay to take someone else’s creative work
product without paying for it or having their
permission,” says Bob Kruger, who leads anti-piracy
programs for the Business Software Alliance, the
foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe
and legal digital world.
Copying or downloading copyrighted works without
paying for them or without explicit permission from
the creator is stealing – no different than going
into a store and shoplifting a software program, CD
or electronic game from the shelf.
Understand the rules
Part of the problem may be that many parents lack
knowledge of copyright and intellectual property
laws for electronic and online copyrighted works.
“Most parents probably didn’t get much of an
education on this topic as they were growing up,”
says Kruger. “Their knowledge about copying probably
came in the context of not plagiarizing.” Most of
today’s parents didn’t have to address the need to
respect copyrighted works online the way their
children do today. See sidebar for explanations of a few terms.
Educate kids
Once you understand the rules, help your children
to understand them too. Though terms like
“copyright” and “intellectual property” may be
difficult to convey to children, Kruger suggests
connecting with kids by tying it to their own
inherent creativity. Kids create things all the
time, from finger-painting and Play-Doh® sculptures
to poems and stories. “Parents can show kids how
copyright and intellectual property laws relate to
them by explaining that, just as they wouldn’t want
someone taking or using their creative work without
their permission, neither do software programmers,
musicians and game developers,” he says.
Explain the economic impact
“Children can also benefit from an explanation of
the economics involved in creating and selling
creative works and how piracy impacts those
economics,” says Dr. Diane DeMott Painter, a
Centreville, Va., technology resource teacher and
recipient of the BSA’s first Cyber Education
Champion Award for her commitment to teaching
students about cyber ethics.
“Most children understand that in the work world,
people get paid for their hard work and creative
ideas,” says Painter. “Parents should explain to
children that the money we pay in a store for a
video game or music CD or software package goes to
all of the people who helped to create and
distribute it – the graphic artist or musician or
computer programmer, the manufacturer, the retailer.
Then explain that when someone copies these things
without paying for them, all of those people who
helped to create them don’t get the money they have
earned.”
This approach can also help to overcome the
misconception that piracy doesn’t hurt anyone – a
belief expressed by more than 25 percent of the
youth surveyed by Harris Interactive. Ironically,
piracy may hurt the pirates. When software
developers and video game creators don’t make money
on the works they’ve already created due to piracy,
they may scale back on creating anything new,
thereby reducing the number of available software
packages and games – “a bleak prospect for most 21st
century kids,” says Kruger.
Overcome the “Everybody does it” mentality
One of the challenges in conveying a clear
message to children that illegal downloading is
wrong is the perception that “everybody does it.”
Three quarters of the youth surveyed by Harris
Interactive say they know other family members and
friends who have downloaded illegally. One third
responded that they think it’s okay to download
without paying because lots of people do it. “When
‘everybody does it,’ or imagines that everybody does
it, a cheating culture has emerged,” says David
Callahan in “The Cheating Culture: Why More
Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead.” “Possibly
the most pervasive form of cheating, electronic
piracy has lost its taboo.”
 Parents can help overcome the “everybody does it”
mentality by being a good role model and by
establishing firm family rules against copying or
downloading copyrighted materials.
Beware of legal and
practical consequences
Children need to understand that there are very
real consequences of violating copyright laws,
including potential legal action against pirates by
the creators or organizations that represent them
(witness the recent lawsuits by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) against
people who illegally uploaded and shared music files
over the Internet). Piracy can also have practical
consequences including infecting your home computer
with a virus or inadvertently downloading spyware
onto your computer from a file-sharing network.
The right thing to do
By educating yourself and then educating your
children, you can protect your own family from these
consequences and make a significant positive impact
in curbing the growth of electronic piracy.
Says Kruger, “Ultimately, parents need to instill in
children a respect for others’ creative work for the
best reason of all: simply because it’s the right
thing to do.”
For information, educational games and other
resources to help ensure your child doesn’t become a
pirate of the 21st century, see
http://www.playitcybersafe.com/
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