Downloading More Than Ever Before, Brits Care Less About Getting Caught
Written by enigmax on July 30, 2007The Brits are downloading more free music than ever before and are less concerned about getting caught than they were last year. Why are they going to download even more next year? 91% say: “Because it’s free!”
According to the Digital Music Survey 2007, downloading unauthorized media is soaring amongst young Britons. Conducted by Entertainment Media Research and intellectual property lawyers Olswang, the survey found that 43% of those questioned admitted to downloading music for free from BitTorrent and other services such as Limewire. This compares to 36% in 2006 and 40% back in 2005.
Of all the men asked, 47% admitted to unauthorized downloading - up from 43% in 2006 - and from the women, 40% admitted doing the same - up from just 29% in 2006.
Asked to look into the future to predict next year’s downloading habits, 18% of those asked said they were likely to download more often, up from 8% in 2006 and just 6% in 2005. 41% said they would download the same next year while an identical number said they would download less.
The number one reason people gave when asked why they would download more next year was “Because it’s free” with a massive 91% of the vote. 42% said it was because of the great choice available on file-sharing networks. However, women were more satisfied with the choices available as 55% manage to find the thing they are looking for on free P2P, compared to just 28% of men.
When asked about legal issues, 33% admitted being worried about being caught, down from 40% in 2006. While 25% felt that they were more familiar with the law, 5% said they didn’t care about it. Just 4% felt it unlikely that they would have legal proceedings brought against them.
When asked about reasons to download less next year, 51% said that their main concerns were getting viruses and spyware, down from 59% in 2006. The report doesn’t breakdown which network’s users were most concerned about such malware but it’s likely the majority of worriers are users of Limewire-like services, as getting viruses and spyware is rare when using BitTorrent.
The report can be downloaded here.
Previously: Most Popular DVDrips on BitTorrent (wk30)
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22 Responses
Power to the people!
Those greedy rats ( labels and lobbyist amongst others ) should learn something, if they can afford what they wish, the working class can’t, that’s why we SHARE for fuck’s sake!
Good news. We should definitely continue to share openly, and thus show the world that the content-providers’ use of scare-tactics isn’t working. There is so many of us that there is nothing they can do. Once they stop suing their customers, and instead consentrate on providing us better products, I will consider to start buying some of their material again. But not until then.
All the corrupt label, lobbyist, lawyer, politician & pimp go to hell. Fuck the devil!
Nice to see they “old” system is finally dying. Jesus, my Grandad downloads!
I download ’stuff’ cause ’stuff’ isn’t available in my part the world….plus its free!
Yes, “Fuck the World, Anarchy Rules!”, as an old cracker once said.
Piracy is popular “because it’s free”? What response is that? Those people need something you can make a mantra out of, like “‘Cause we’re screwing The Man”, or “Arrg!”.
Piracy is popular not only because it’s free, but in certain places, there’s a culture to it. It’s a way for people to meet and make new friends. Perhaps not the Limewire community, but something like WinMX certainly does.
I stick to downloading tv since I pay 65$ for cable internet. It is a crappy connection also. If Fox or any of those other producers start cracking down on TV torrents they should also ask cable companies to lower their prices. If I could afford cable and internet I wouldn’t download nearly as much.
It’s a matter of price, now it’s well proven that distribution of contents it’s not a problem anymore, so why we shall pay 30+ euro (in italy) and give back 12% (or less) to the authors? We better pay 5 euros per CD and give 90% to the musician…
No more uber-rich artist kidloving michael jackson’s around, but wealthy musicians and no more music industry sharks… until then share and download! n
You can read the full Entertainment Media Research Digital Music report here - http://www.entertainmentmediaresearch.com/ADMINNews/templates/emr.asp?articleid=38&zoneid=1
(cue national anthem) good music should be free!
It could be that the Brits use file-sharing services that hide the identity of the files that are being exchanged. One example is GigaTribe, which encrypts all exchanges: http://www.gigatribe.com
That’s hilarious! What bites my funny bone is artists are getting wise and using P2P to promote their stuff.
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Granddad downloads! That’s great! But remember, use protection aka Peer Guardian or a B.I.S.S. I.P. blocker.
Disguising the truth has always been the weapon of the weak!
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8941/Anti-Piracy+Propoganda+Videos+Guaranteed+to+Make+You+Laugh
Fucking Hell, give me a break will you!?
Good to see that filesharing is alive and well in the U.K.
It’s nice to see the old world of capitalism and intellectual property undermined by the forces of filesharing and mutual aid.
It seems people sure love swearing on these forums
Im from Australia and Im doing a Independent Research project on downloading music. Downloading music is also a moral issue. So Think about that!
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