Seven out of ten scared off by piracy warning letter

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 13 Oct 2008 at 11:44

Seven out of ten people would stop downloading music illegally if they received a warning letter from their ISP, a new survey claims.

The Digital Entertainment Survey 2008 finds that 70% of people would stop downloading unauthorised content after receiving a warning, with teenagers surprisingly more likely to heed the caution than adults.

The news will give encouragement to the music industry, which is working with the UK's six leading ISPs to send out warning letters to people identified as illegal file sharers by the BPI.

If that fails to significantly dent piracy, the Government may press ahead with more draconian measures such as throttling broadband connections or even the BPI's preferred "three strikes and you're out" approach of cutting off persistent offenders.

The Digital Entertainment Survey says that people would definitely take notice of a harsher regime. Two thirds say they would stop downloading if they felt there was more chance of being caught.

Actions definitely speak louder than words, however, with half claiming they wouldn't stop downloading if they saw more reported cases of prosecution, because they believe they only have a small chance of being caught themselves.

The BPI and the Government might have a battle on its hands if it does decide to get tougher with file sharers. Carphone Warehouse has already threatened to walk out of the file-sharing pact if it's required to foist illegal file sharers off its network, while others have remained decidedly non-committal.