Fear Decreases Illegal Downloading in the UK

In what might be seen as a sign of encouragement to those concerned with the issue in the U.S., illegal downloads have declined in the U.K. because of fears that connections to the Internet might be cut off.

According to Entertainment Media Research, 75 percent of the 1,500 U.K. consumers surveyed said they would stop downloading illegal content if their ISP told them to do so.

The annual survey found that the majority (51 percent) of respondents obtained their music through legal downloads, the first time in its five-year history.

Meanwhile, 39 percent of respondents said they still download music illegally. This figure reflects a noticeable decline from 43 percent last year.

Virgin Media, an ISP in the U.K., started a letter campaign earlier in 2008. It, along with five of the country’s largest ISPs, warned users who were downloading content illegally.

Younger users were found to be more cavalier when it came to illegal downloading. Fifty-eight percent of users between the ages of 13 and 17 said they had downloaded illegal content, and 61 percent said they thought their activities were being monitored.

On the flipside, more than 40 percent of users ages 35 and over said they downloaded their content legally.

YouTube was found to be the social networking site most preferred for listening to and discovering music, receiving a 41 percent response. MySpace followed behind with 25 percent.

Sources:
http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=269852

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/10/13/number-of-illegal-downloads-falling-in-the-uk