A new study has indicated that a large number of US teens are completely unaware of the legal issues surrounding the downloading of music, movies and other content from the internet.

Data released by Microsoft showed that around half of US teenagers were not familiar with digital piracy laws and that just 11 percent completely understood the rules.

The research showed that teenagers between seventh and tenth grades were less likely to illegally download content from the internet when they knew the laws for downloading and sharing content online.

"Widespread access to the Internet has amplified the issue of intellectual property rights among children and teens," said Sherri Erickson, global manager at Genuine Software Initiative for Microsoft.

"This survey provides more insight into the disparity between IP awareness and young people today and highlights the opportunity for schools to help prepare their students to be good online citizens."

Of the youths who did understand digital piracy laws, 82 percent said that people who illegally downloaded content should be punished.

It was also found that peer pressure and monetary issues were the factors most likely to convince someone to illegally download content.