Two Out of Three American Teens Oppose Fines for Music File Sharers, Says Harris Interactive Youth Survey

Results of a new Harris InteractiveŽ survey show that two-thirds (66%) of American teenagers (13-18 years old) oppose fining individuals who offer copyrighted music online for other people to download while about one in ten teens (13%) believe that people who offer copyrighted music on their computers for others to download should be fined. Half of teens (52%) strongly oppose such fines and two in ten teens (21%) neither support nor oppose the fines.

Teen boys (69%) and girls (62%) are equally likely to oppose the fines, although boys are more likely than girls to strongly oppose the fines (60% vs. 45%), and girls are more likely than boys to neither support nor oppose the fines (28% vs. 15%).

In addition, the poll found that most teens believe that sharing and downloading of copyrighted music should be legal. Three quarters (78%) of them feel that sharing (letting other people download music from them) should be legal. Additionally, 74% of teens said that downloading copyrighted music files from the Internet without paying for it should be legal. 
 
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