Illegal Downloading Down.
March 25, 2006
The lowdown on downloads: keep it legal dude!
In what has to music to the ears of audio and video media publishers, a new survey sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), and conducted by Harris Interactive, indicates that the number of young Internet users who illegally download online content has fallen by 17 percentage points in the last two years.
In 2004, 60% of survey participants, all aged 8 to 18, reported illegally downloading software, music, movies or games. In 2006 the percentage who illegally downloaded such content dropped to 43%.
While warnings concerning the potential legal ramifications of illegal downloading have undoubtedly had an effect, when survey participants were asked what worried them most, the top responses were fear of downloading a computer virus (63%) or spyware (52%). Legal problems rated third with only 49% citing them as a disincentive.
“While we are heartened by the results of this new study, parents and educators must remain vigilant in teaching kids appropriate computer usage,” said Diane Smiroldo of BSA. “The study’s results show that as kids grow older, they begin to view cyberspace as a virtual ‘wild, wild west’.”
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