An investigation of the intention to share files over P2P Networks

In this research we take a comprehensive view of file-sharing over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks in order to develop a model of the intention to share files. P2P file-sharing once consisted largely of music files which, when downloaded, were an infringement of copyrights. For this reason models of file-sharing intentions often included factors and constructs representing ethical concerns. However, these models did not produce a broad agreement about whether or not those ethical concerns had significant effects on intentions. Furthermore, files now shared over P2P networks represent a significant portion of both legitimate and non-infringing files. The model we propose applies to P2P file-sharing of all files, regardless of media type, and regardless of whether they are shared legally or illegally. Lastly we present the factors from the model that were suggested to be significant from an initial pilot study