Poort et al. (2014)
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Source Details
| Poort et al. (2014) | |
| Title: | Baywatch: Two approaches to measure the effects of blocking access to The Pirate Bay |
| Author(s): | Poort, J., Leenheer, J., van der Ham, J., Dumitru, C. |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Citation: | Poort, J., Leenheer, J., van der Ham, J., and Dumitru, C. (2014) Baywatch: Two approaches to measure the effects of blocking access to The Pirate Bay. Telecommunications Policy, 38(4), pp 383-392 |
| Link(s): | Definitive |
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| Linked by: | Danaher et al. (2019), Poort and Weda (2015) |
| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | Data were obtained from two surveys issued to the Dutch population using a random sampling method. The multi-period measurements of the survey were designed to test reactions to blocking access to websites after 3, 6, and 10 months. The study notes 2009 respondents to the first survey, 2422 for the second, and 1692 respective respondents to both. The survey data was complemented with intermittent monitoring of BitTorrent data for Dutch users in the post-block period. |
| Data Type: | Primary data |
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| Cross Country Study?: | No |
| Comparative Study?: | No |
| Literature review?: | No |
| Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
“In the fight against unauthorised sharing of copyright protected material, Dutch Internet Service Providers have been summoned by courts to block their subscribers' access to The Pirate Bay and related sites. This paper studies the effectiveness of this approach towards online copyright enforcement, using both a consumer survey and a newly developed non-infringing technology for BitTorrent monitoring. While a small group of respondents download less from illegal sources or claim to have stopped doing so, no impact is found on the percentage of the Dutch population downloading from illegal sources. Slight changes are found on the distribution of Dutch peers, but these seem related to the awareness raised by blocking rather than the blocking itself.”
Main Results of the Study
• The majority of those who download or intend to download from illegal sources (this in itself a small percentage of the overall population) are largely non-responsive to blocking access to piracy sites (with 70-72% of this segment reporting no change in their downloading behaviours).
• The percentage of downloads of films and series, books and games increased as time went on post-block (approx.. 15.7% - 22.5% in the 6-10 month post-block span). Downloads of music post-block remained consistent. The study suggests that this increase in downloads means the initial awareness and effectiveness of the blocking period is short-lived.
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The study suggests that, rather than using blocking interventions to stop unauthorised file sharing, policy makers and content creators should ‘focus on removing any legal or practical obstacles for comprehensive and attractive legal online models’.
Coverage of Study
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