[LINK] Most pirates say they'd pay for legal downloads

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/download-culture/internet-pirates-say-theyd-pay-for-legal-downloads/story-fn58oolp-1225863187697

> MOST people who illegally download movies, music and TV shows would  
> pay for them if there was a cheap and legal service as convenient as  
> file-sharing tools like BitTorrent.
>
> That's the finding of the most comprehensive look yet at people who  
> illegally download TV shows, movies and music in Australia,  
> conducted by news.com.au and market research firm CoreData.
>
> The survey canvassed the attitudes of more than 7000 people who  
> admitted to streaming or downloading media from illegitimate sources  
> in the past 12 months.
>
> It found accessibility was as much or more of a motivator than money  
> for those who illegally download media using services like BitTorrent.
>
> More respondents said they turned to illegal downloads because they  
> were convenient than because they were free, when it came to all  
> three types of media covered by the survey — TV shows, movies and  
> music.
>
> And more than two-thirds said they would pay for downloads from a  
> legitimate service that was just as convenient if it existed.
>
> The hypothetical legitimate service was described as giving users  
> access to TV shows, movies and music they wanted, when they wanted  
> them, without ads or copy protection.
>
> The survey also found:
>
> TV shows are illegally downloaded more regularly, and by more  
> people, than movies or music.
>

...

> Mr Crafti, president of the Pirate Party Australia political group,  
> said restrictive copy protection measures that "crippled" many legal  
> download stores — such as locking movie or music files so they can  
> only be played on specific devices — turned users off buying media  
> through legitimate channels.

...

> Neil Gane, the executive director of anti-piracy group Australian  
> Federation Against Copyright Theft, said there was a need for  
> businesses to develop more flexible models — but they were being  
> hampered by piracy.

...

> According to the most recent statistics from 2006, film piracy costs  
> the movie industry in Australia about $230 million a year, with  
> internet pirates blamed for up to $92 million of that.
>
Figures from the industries own studies (imagination?)
> Mr Gane said that figure would only have risen in recent years as  
> broadband speeds in Australia increased.
>



-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
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