More evidence that public awareness campaigns are a waste of time and that only strong IP enforcement will solve the problem.

People will continue to download copyrighted content because they can, it’s human nature. Simply telling them it’s wrong is insufficient.

From the Straits Times:

Almost every Singaporean knows it is wrong to download movies and music illegally – but many are going to do it, anyway, especially now that it is a bit more painful to shell out for the latest U2 album or Wolverine DVD.

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) expects an uptick in unauthorised downloads in the current economic downturn, even though its latest survey found that most people know such downloads are theft and they can get into trouble for it.

One possible reason, said Ipos’ director-general Liew Woon Yin, is that not many feel any sort of social stigma over intellectual property (IP) theft.