Movie downloaders think they're Robin Hood

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN movie downloader doesn't give much of a hoot about the MPAA's problem, new research by the Solutions Research Group has revealed.

It seems that American consumers are increasingly downloading movies, with 32 million of Americans aged over 12 - that's just under 20 per cent of the US online population - having downloaded a fil'm at some point in the past. Twenty million of those 32 million are branded regular pirates, having downloaded a flick over the last month.

As would be expected, p2p programs are still the most popular with downloaders, a large majority no doubt using Bittorrent - so not to worry, IRC geeks, you're safe. The research shows that your typical movie downloader is around 29 years old and has 16 titles stored on their PC, 63% of the downloaders being male and the other 37% female.

Of all those interrogated by the research group, only 40 per cent believe that downloading movies off the web is a "very serious offense" as opposed to the 78 per cent who think nicking a DVD from a shop is a serious offense - presumably because you can't download shiny, pretty box sets.

Kaan Yigit, the director of the study, reckons there's a "Robin Hood effect" going on - most downloaders think celebrities and studios are rich enough already and so don't really give a hoot about stealing from some distant fat cat's pocket. Yigit forgets to mention that some people simply like free things, and popcorn is far cheaper in a shop than it is at your local Odeon.

Kaan's got bright hopes for download-to-own movie services which will offer more flexibility, he thinks. Without these new download services thriving, he says, file-sharing will continue to thrive. µ