Date: Thursday, August 2, 2007
Music piracy set to soar
An alarming indication from the recent Digital Music Survey implies that illegal music downloads are on the rise and will continue to do so. Experts warn that drastic measures must be taken to protect the intellectual property of the UK’s music industry.
Every year the Entertainment Media Research carries out its Digital Music Survey, however this year the results have caused more interest than in previous years. The increase in number of people who say they regularly download music illegally and intend to continue doing so is shocking. 43% of people claimed that they did so, and 18% said they would download illegally again in the future. Experts are particularly worried over the vast increase this represents over numbers recorded in the same survey a year ago. Then, only 36% of those questioned claimed that they illegally downloaded, and a mere 8% indicated that they intended to download again.
Experts have called on the music industry, such as music industry association BPI, to take steps to make it more appealing to people to download music legally, with cheaper and easier processes on websites such as iTunes and Sony. However, BPI has responded by saying it is not something they can do alone, and that internet service providers also have a responsibility to limit the ease with which people can download illegally, as well as using ISP gatekeepers and government legislation as buffers to piracy. This is seen as a measure which is greatly needed due to the decrease in people believing prosecution was a deterrent to downloading illegally. In 2005 42% of those participating in the survey said it was a disincentive, however this had fallen to only 33% by this year. It seems something drastically needs to be done to protect the music industry in the UK from falling in to the hands of the piraters.
Source:
Guardian
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