The Infrastructure and Labor Dynamics of Digital Media Piracy

媒体盗版，或未经授权使用、复制或流通受版权保护的材料，长期以来一直是大多数人获取媒体的主要手段。尽管众所周知，妇女在这一非正规部门的动态中发挥着关键作用，但性别与媒体盗版之间的关系尚未得到实质性的审查。这项研究通过对媒体盗版的民族志研究来解决这一差距。除了为本科生和研究生提供人类学数据收集和分析方法方面的培训外，该项目还扩大了代表不足的群体参与科学研究的范围。调查结果正在广泛传播给利益攸关方和组织，他们探索数字盗版、知识产权以及媒体使用和流通的伦理、法律和社会影响。该项目由文化人类学和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。该项目探讨性别如何影响媒体盗版的基础设施和劳动力，以及媒体盗版如何影响妇女的生计和经济活动，她们是媒体盗版的最重要客户，在社会经济压力时期。研究结合了参与者观察和对盗版媒体分销商、供应商和消费者以及国家和版权机构官员的半结构化采访，重点关注性别如何影响：1)媒体盗版基础设施和劳动力；2)媒体技术的获得及其在家中的管理；以及3)跨国娱乐流派的接受。该项目首次研究了性别在塑造媒体盗版中的作用以及媒体分销在社会和经济转型中的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Media piracy, or the unauthorized use, reproduction, or circulation of copyrighted material, has long been the dominant means through which most populations gain access to media. Despite the critical role that women are known to play in the dynamics of this informal sector, the relationship between gender and media piracy has not been substantively examined. This study addresses this gap through an ethnographic study of media piracy. In addition to providing training for undergraduate and graduate students in methods of anthropological data collection and analysis, this project broadens the participation of underrepresented groups in scientific research. Findings are being disseminated broadly to stakeholders and organizations who explore the ethical, legal, and social implications of digital piracy, intellectual property rights, and media use and circulation. This project is jointly funded by Cultural Anthropology and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This project asks how gender shapes the infrastructure and labor of media piracy and how media piracy is shaping the livelihoods and economic activities of women, who are the most significant clients of media piracy, during periods of socioeconomic stress. Research combines participant observation and semi-structured interviews with pirate media distributors, vendors, and consumers, as well as state and copyright collections agency officials, and focuses on how gender shapes: 1) media piracy infrastructure and labor; 2) the acquisition of media technologies and their management in the home; and 3) the reception of transnational entertainment genres. This project provides the first study of the role that gender plays in shaping media piracy and what impact media distribution has in social and economic transformation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.