One third of UK web streamers pirate film, TV and music

We all know that the internet is home to illegal software, music, movies and much more. It may seem like an impossible task to put figures to piracy levels, but a report by Ofcom, the independent regulator for the communications industries in the UK, has done just that. The Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report found that a staggering 30 percent of regular downloaders of media did so illegally.

The report looked at the period from November 2012 to January 2013 and analyzed UK consumption of online music, film, TV programmes, books, games and software. Compared to the previous three months, the percentage of web users accessing any of this type of content increased from 57 percent to 60 percent.

But the really interesting figures are concerned with piracy. The results are based on anonymous questionnaires in which 18 percent of participants admitted to indulging in some form of online copyright infringement.

Narrowing down the numbers to include only those who streamed or downloaded media, makes the findings particularly intriguing. 33 percent of movie watchers enjoyed films illegally, while 26 percent of music lovers got their singles and albums from illegal sources. Authors and publishers fared slightly better, with a mere 8 percent of digital book downloads taking place illegally.

Those indulging in online theft of this nature were more likely to be male and aged under 34, and the reasons for illegally downloading or streaming media was that such content was free, convenient and quick.

By far the most popular means of obtaining illegal content was through the use of P2P service, and uTorrent had the largest following, accounting for 20 percent of illegal downloads.

Despite the apparent increase in piracy, there was also an increase in the number of people who claim to pay for all of their online TV watching, as well as those watching a mixture of free and paid-for content.

As the study only looked at internet users aged 12 and over, it's entirely possible that the real figures are even higher.  While some of those questioned said they would be discouraged from illegally downloading files if their ISPs wrote to them, 16 percent said nothing would stop them.

If you fancy crunching the numbers yourself, the full report is available for download from the Ofcom website.

Would you be honest about your online activities if questioned? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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