If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

POLITICS

71% See Government Censorship of Internet As Bigger Threat Than Illegal Downloading

Congress’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is in limbo in the face of strong opposition from Internet giants like Google and Wikipedia fearful of government censorship. Most voters agree that online piracy of films is theft, but they, too, are more concerned about Internet censorship.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of Likely U.S. Voters agree that someone who downloads a movie online without paying for it is stealing from the company that made the film. Eighteen percent (18%) do not view this free downloading as theft. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls).  Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on January 21-22, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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