1.67 million Brits download films illegally in 2003

May 11, 2004

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us "The alleged cost to the industry of Â£45 million would appear to be a drop in the ocean compared to the Â£2,420 Million turnover. And yes, sales will keep increasing for sometime to come since people are at the stage where they"re starting to replace their Video Collections. I"ve replaced mine already."

Illegal UK downloads of films and TV via the Internet have tripled over the past year, the British Video Association (BVA) estimates. This apparently cost the UK video business Â£45m in DVD sales alone during 2003. 1.67m miscreants indulged in the practice last year, compared to 570,000 in 2002. The typical offender - identified as the result of a survey of 16,000 12 to 74-year-olds - is reported as "under 35 years old and male" and "most likely to live in the south of England, where broadband is more widely available, and to download an average of 30 films or TV episodes per year".

Though lucky to live in an area with fast broadband connections, the thought of downloading a film has never been a temptation. For 3 bucks I can get it at the rental store and keep it 5 days. Unlike the Gristmeister, I have only begun collecting DVD movies and am really pleased with the values. Often, you can get two for 15 bucks now on selected titles every weekend somewhere. It has taken the place of collecting CD's as they are a sorry value in comparison.

By the way, what in the world do recording TV episodes have to do with anything? You are watching it right? Otherwise you would miss it as you are doing something else. They should be thrilled. Wait until a commercial skipping PVR begins taking the place of the VCR, then come crying. We can expect that many "ads" will be integrated into the show as a prop due to this upcoming evolution in recording hardware.

Source: The Register