MacNeill (2016)
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Source Details
| MacNeill (2016) | |
| Title: | Torrenting Game of Thrones-So wrong and yet so right |
| Author(s): | Kate MacNeill |
| Year: | 2016 |
| Citation: | MacNeill, K. (2017) Torrenting Game of Thrones-So wrong and yet so right. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Volume 23, Issue 5, p.545-p.562. Available at https:http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1177/1354856516640713 |
| Link(s): | Definitive |
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| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | Data consists of the analysis of 252 comments on a Facebook post by the US Ambassador to Australia, which concerned Game of Thrones and widespread copyright infringement. Results were coded using content and thematic analysis resulting in 5 themes on the justification of piracy (informed by neutralization theory): (i) the denial of a victim, (ii) the denial of responsibility, (iii) the denial of harm, (iv) condemning the condemners and (v) appeal to higher loyalties. Only 12 responses could not be categorised within these themes. |
| 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
"This article examines the views expressed by Australians relating to unauthorized digital access to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. A detailed analysis is undertaken of the online responses to a 2013 Facebook post by the United States Ambassador to Australia, chastizing Australians for their ‘illegal’ behaviour. This analysis is used to critique the dominant framing of the activities of filesharing, torrenting and unauthorized downloading as criminal and those involved in the activity as being influenced by sociological factors. In contrast, the research found that many of the justifications for these behaviours contained in the Facebook comments demonstrated an informed critique of the market mechanisms at work in the distribution networks."
Main Results of the Study
• Unauthorized downloading and enjoyment of copyright-protected content has become a part of ‘everyday practice',
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
Whilst the study does not make any explicit policy recommendations, the authors note that the framing of unauthorized downloading within models of criminality (framing piracy as "stealing") is not a productive way of understanding the dynamics of downloading. Instead, unauthorized downloading is often viewed by many as an ethical act of rebalancing within a distorted market, perhaps mitigating the impact of monopoly pricing.
