Report to Ofcom suggests that up to 30.9% of internet users may be engaged in illegal downloading

13th January 2012

 

In line with its duties under the Digital Economy Act, Ofcom has published a report which it commissioned from BDRC-Continental to assess the level of use of the internet to infringe copyright. The report reviews the methodology used in an earlier pilot assessment by Kantar Media, and compares this with its own survey findings to come up with  revised assessment of the number of internet users who engage in illegal downloading. This forms part of Ofcom's efforts to meet its requirement to 'develop a consistent and representative measurement system that is able to gauge the level of activity and attitudes towards illegal file-sharing in the UK over time'.

 

The methodology recommended in the report produces an estimate that 30.9% of internet users download illegally, although only 17.1% directly admit it when questioned in surveys. As the report puts it:

 

"This reinforces the dangers of using an explicit definition to measure illegal downloading rather than an implicit one. If the deduced illegal download figure is correct, it is twice the size of the estimate produced by asking the direct question."

 

The full report can be found online here.