Do some P2P file sharers see themselves as the Robin Hoods of the digital age—taking from the greedy content companies and giving to the global have-nots? Amidst all the angst over illegal Internet file sharing and what to do about it, there’s a related debate raging over two questions—why do people share files and what do they think about the ethics of the practice?

Obviously lots of BitTorrent users simply want free content. But a new study coming out of the United Kingdom suggests that more than a few see their activities in explicitly moral terms, particularly “first seeders”—folks who first post a torrent for public sharing, as opposed to “leechers,” those who download torrent files but don’t offer any content themselves.

Some first-seeders may see themselves as “masked philanthropists,” the survey concludes, “working from the perceived safety of their own homes to defy a legal system that incorrectly ascribes legal liability to their actions, while they generate esteem through their altruistic engagement with the file-sharing community.”

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P2P first seeders: pirates or "masked philanthropists"?