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Report: Illegal Music Downloading Climbs

AP reports:

The number of U.S. households illegally downloading music from P2P networks is increasing, not decreasing, as the RIAA would have us believe (see "BitTorrent users chuckling over Pew peer-to-peer report"). According to new research from the NPD Group, the number of households availing themselves of peer-to-peer traded MP3 files rose 6 percent in October and 7 percent in November after a six-month decline.

So is the RIAA's campaign against file-sharing perhaps less effective than the lobbying group claims? Nonsense. RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy says the group's efforts are on right track, regardless of what the NPD study shows. "For us, the ultimate measurement of success has been, and continues to be, creating an environment where legal online music services can flourish," Lamy said in a statement. "All indicators point in the right direction -- sales of CDs, legal downloads and awareness that file sharing copyrighted music is illegal -- have all increased."

Note that Lamy avoids the question: "Is file sharing decreasing?" Legal downloads are increasing because there is now legal downloading services. Previously, people who wanted digital music had no other option but the P2P sites. Apple iTunes Music Store opened the flood gates.

As to sales of CDs increasing, that's as much a function of the improving economy as it is long awaited price competition.


via: Good Morning Silicon Valley

Sources:
Report: Illegal Music Downloading Climbs
ALEX VEIGA
Associated Press, Thu, Jan. 15, 2004
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7720607.htm

RIAA: The facts aside, we're winning
John Paczkowski
GMSV, Fri, Jan. 16, 2004
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/

Music Sales Rise on Aggressive Discounting, Price Competition and an Improving Economy
Me
December 21, 2003
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2003/12/music_sales_ris.html

Friday, January 16, 2004 | 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments

The legal downloading sites are great. I'm sure some folks will always try and bag free tunes, but it's so easy now to get what you want for under a buck...

Posted by: muckdog | Jan 17, 2004 7:29:48 PM

well i think that illeagal downloading music is a great piece of work. I also would like to

Posted by: bobby | Jan 4, 2005 8:46:30 AM

Who can I cantact to report someone who downloads illegal music, movies, and video games, and even sells them. He downloads thousands of them. How can I report them?

Posted by: John Doe | Feb 2, 2005 6:53:03 PM

Boby ur a fag dont tell on sum1

Posted by: raab | Jul 13, 2005 11:49:24 AM

you need to download a copy of MiRc and watch the amount of people illegally sharing music then copying them and sending to people around the world ..its unbelievable one man in there has 98,000 songs hes sharing around the world ..i thought id report it as i assumed mirc was a chat room but i was very wrong thousands daily there are sending and sharing music movies and all other files there ..hope you can catch these culprits

Posted by: jane morrison | Jul 27, 2006 7:51:24 PM

Seriously guys, artists make so much money from shows that, the loss of record business doesn't hurt them that much. If you don't believe me watch a couple episodes of cribs on MTV. And movie stars are the same way. Don't tell me you feel bad for the record label executives, they are the reason people steal music in the first place. Their desire for money has kept record prices unreasonable throughout the years. Protest by demonstrating your discontent for record prices. download!

Posted by: steve | Jun 18, 2007 12:49:03 AM

Eventually more and more people would discover this hole in the goverment's system, and eventually record companys would lose out on millions, so would the artists, and thousands would lose jobs. If no one buys, then the artisits would go out of business, and no more music. End of story.

Report illegal sites before they spread.

Posted by: Josh | Aug 6, 2008 1:05:41 AM

Oh Fuck you Josh,you stupid sonofabitch!

Posted by: frank garrett | Oct 24, 2008 2:02:04 PM