Britons Confused By Legality Of Downloads, Finds Report

Consumers are spoilt for choice when they seek content online and are confused about what is legal and not legal, according to a report published on Friday. That confusion, and the ease of lawbreaking, present challenges for Government, the authors say.

Government advisory body the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP) commissioned University College London (UCL) to undertake research into online consumer behaviour in the UK and its potential impact on business and government policy.

UCL's 85-page report suggests that users of file-sharing networks are illegally consuming billions of pounds-worth of content for free each year. Its report, Copycats? Digital Consumers in the Online Age, found that the scale of the problem of illegal downloading is "huge and growing" but "there are many unknowns about the figures".

"Sixteen percent of UK consumers are said to regularly 'file share', and whilst the figure is said to have remained 'flat' in the recent past, various studies concede that the figure could be much higher," it says.

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Between 44% and 79% of global internet traffic is taken up with file sharing, according to the report. But the proportion of file-sharing content that is unauthorised or otherwise illegal is unknown.

Music industry body the IFPI reported this year that there were 890 million unauthorised music downloads in the UK in 2007 through file-sharing compared to 140 million paid-for downloads. The UK film industry claimed that there were just under 100 million illegal downloads of DVDs in 2007.