Illegal Download Sites Used by Half of Web Surfers

Tiscali survey reveals 46% of respondents have used one or more of the sites most associated with illegal downloadingA recent survey from UK ISP, Tiscali has found that even though half (46%) of respondents are users of P2P sites, over half (53%) say they have never knowingly downloaded music illegally.Granted there are a growing number of ‘legal’ download sites (Take a look at ‘Where to download music legally’ which is a pretty comprehensive list from The Guardian) but the survey refers to sites mostly associated with illegal downloading such as BitTorrent, Limewire, Gnutella, emule, Ares or DirectConnect. If users aren’t accessing and sharing copyrighted material on these sites then what are they sharing, their own latest hits and home movies? I find that very hard to believe.The survey also showed that even though 75% of respondents knew what was legal and illegal in their music use, they didn’t think that their actions were damaging the music industry or maybe they’re just not bothered by the current lack of law enforcement.The UK culture secretary, Andy Burnham, is trying to address this lack of current law enforcement by calling on Europe and the US for support. He’s planning to have an international strategy that combats illegal internet downloads by the autumn.According to The Guardian, Burnham would like to see a 70-80% reduction in illegal downloading in the UK.“The ultimate aim of the plan, Burnham told MediaGuardian.co.uk, would be to develop a consensus with other governments that would make the UK's own initiatives to combat internet piracy more likely to succeed. Burnham said the government is seeking a 70% to 80% reduction in illegal downloads with its plans in the UK."I am working towards an international memorandum of understanding, it is time for much more serious dialogue with European and US partners. No solely national solution will work. It can only be durable with international consensus," he added.An interesting development in trying to find a workable business model for the music industry is the emergence of online music service Spotify - ‘A world of music. Instant, simple and free’. In return for having to listen to a few ads you get to choose your own playlist from a huge catalogue of tracks or let the company choose for them for you. You’d have thought that this was a pretty amicable solution for all parties involved but already the service has fallen foul to the music industry’s licensing laws with some tracks being restricted from play in certain countries.The site's global community manager, Andres Sehr believes, "These restrictions are a legacy from when most music was sold on tapes and CDs and they have continued over into streaming music," Sehr said, adding, "our hope is that one day restrictions like this will disappear for good."For now we’ll just have to keep our ears open and see what happens.