Social pressure to follow the law

One interesting aspect of the Lessig/IP law issue is one studied extensively by sociologists and legal scholars: what forms of influence lead people to follow laws? Fear of punishment is one, of course, but many laws (like traffic speed limits) can be difficult to enforce without a prohibitively large law enforcement presence.

IP laws are of this type. The prospect of actually catching even a significant proportion of law breakers is miniscule. Sure, you can punish a few people severely (12-year-olds sued for tens of millions of dollars), but people may be willing to take the chance that they won't be in the .0001% of law breakers punished. This makes laws like speed limits and copyrights hard to enforce.

One non-law enforcement way to get people to follow a law is through social pressures to follow laws because, well, they're the law. Sociologists have seen this most clearly with seat belt laws. People feel a duty to wear their seatbelt because it's illegal not to. Sure, there are still people who don't buckle up, but seat belt laws have done far more to increase belt usage than public safety ad campaigns about how seat belts will save your life.

For this reason, the RIAA and MPAA to publicize the illegality of piracy may be one of the most effective ways to get people to stop piracy. Most people don't really like breaking the law, and will go through a legal route if they can. Emphasizing the illegality of the process may further deter people from downloading music illegally. An understanding of the most effective ways to get people to follow the law is critical to reducing piracy of intellectual property.