New survey data out on American attitudes toward copyright infringement shows that current statutory damage awards of up to $150,000 are supported by almost no one. Indeed, only half of all American adults support any sort of fine for downloading a song or movie, and one-third said there should be no punishment at all.

The data comes from a study out of The American Assembly project at Columbia University. In work that was funded in part by Google, researchers surveyed 2,303 US adults by phone during the month of August on a whole host of copyright-related questions.

We've already covered the admission that 70 percent of those age 18-29 have pirated music or video, though few are hardcore pirates and most also acquire content legally. But what to do about this situation? The survey found that reactions here diverge sharply from current law. Only 52 precent of American adults support punishment at all (another 7 percent say it depends on the situation)—and essentially no one supports any sort of tough punishment.

Fines and warnings are the only two broadly supported remedies for infringement among those who want to impose a penalty. But the supported fines are miniscule, with three-quarters of respondents agreeing that any fine should be less than $100.

Contrast this with current US law, which provides for statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement. These huge amounts aren't mere hypotheticals, either; the few people who have gone to trial for file-sharing were hit with massive fines of up to $80,000 per song, only to have them overturned by appalled judges.

What about Internet disconnection, currently being contemplated by American ISPs under a voluntary "six strike" process many of them have agreed to with content owners? It gets almost no support. Only 16 percent of Americans support it, and that's until the survey noted that "disconnection" would affect an entire household, not just an alleged infringer. As the results writeup puts it, "Informed support for disconnection, accordingly, is under 10 percent."