Almost one in ten stealing video online

Almost one in ten stealing video online

Nearly 10% of all internet users in Britain, France, Germany and the US admit to downloading video illegally, showing the scale of the ongoing fight against piracy.

Two-thirds of those surveyed in Britain often or sometimes watched TV, movies and video on their PC, with US consumers not far behind. Of those, 15% did so illegally, reveals a survey from Futuresource Consulting conducted for the Driving Digital Content conference.

"This widespread availability of illicit content presents a major obstacle to the development of online content services, and continues to heavily impact upon revenues, despite governments' and industry authorities' renewed attempts to tighten up the system," says the survey report.

Most media companies are struggling to persuade consumers to payfor video, music or news online amid the widely held assumption that content on the web is free. But attempts to fund free content by selling advertising are mostly falling short.

Governments around the world are trying to help media providers fight online piracy. The worst effects have so far been borne by the music industry, which is still struggling to compensate for an ongoing decline in CD sales.

The Government proposed a range of measures this week to punish persistent illegal downloaders, including slowing down connections and eventually blocking internet access.

But such measures are highly controversial as internet access is increasingly perceived as a right by those who have it.

The survey found that 90% of those who watched video content online had never paid to watch news or recently-missed TV shows. Just over half had never paid to watch new movies. But most said they would or might be willing to pay in future.

Less than 1% said that an advertising reel placed before, during or after an old movie or TV show spoiled their online viewing, with 30% saying it had no impact and nearly half saying it only put them off a bit.

Futuresource carried out online surveys of more than 2,500 people to put together its report.