Downloading movies takes lead over downloading music

[riddler 0]

http://www.comcast.net/News/TECHNOLOGY//XML/1700_High_Tech/3206c947-382d-40d1-af16-aa53f3ee3233.html

Watch for the MPAA to follow RIAA's lead and start suing individuals that download movies.

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PARIS - Music is no longer the download of choice for Internet file swappers, according to a new study on online file sharing.

For the first time last year, music swapping on the Internet was outpaced by the copying of movies and other non-audio files, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, to be published Monday.

Across the OECD's 30 industrialized member countries, music accounted for 48.6 percent of files shared online, compared with 62.5 percent in 2002, according to excerpts of the report seen by The Associated Press.

Video accounted for 27 percent, up from 25.2 percent, the study will say.

The findings will do little to reassure movie studios, which are worried that they will be the next victims of the ever speedier Internet connections and compression technologies on offer to consumers.

Online piracy through sites like Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus _ which let computer users connect directly to one another to exchange files _ has already been blamed for a five-year decline in CD sales that has hurt music labels.

European countries are leading the way in movie downloading, the OECD report shows, with video accounting for 35.4 percent of files swapped by German users of Kazaa, compared to 23.7 percent by U.S. users.

Web surfers based in Italy, Belgium, France, Norway, Britain, Finland and Poland also downloaded a higher percentage of movies than those in the United States.

A separate global study published Thursday by the Motion Pictures Association found that about one in four Internet users had already downloaded a movie. Most said they would pirate more if they took less time to download.

The OECD report does not give separate numbers for pirated downloads and those that do not infringe copyright. Despite a growing number of paid-for services like Apple's music site iTunes, however, experts say the vast majority of file swaps are still unauthorized.

The biggest growth in downloading last year was in "other files" _ neither music nor film _ which almost doubled their share to about a quarter of all downloads. The category includes software and pornography, but the report gives no breakdown between the two.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[billvon 3,120]

Music accounts for 48.6% of files downloaded, video accounts for 27% - and video is taking the lead? Do they mean that people use more bandwidth to download movies? That would make more sense.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Music accounts for 48.6% of files downloaded, video accounts for 27% - and video is taking the lead? Do they mean that people use more bandwidth to download movies? That would make more sense.

They meant to say that it was now less than everything else - ie, 50%. It's a pretty silly statement. So is measuring by file count, I think. One movie is 2 or 3 band's entire collection.

For all the work it currently takes to download a movie, even at a 1.5mbps rate, and then reassemble the pieces, and then watch it on your PC...I'd rather pay out the $20. I've seen my share of early release camcorder DVDs and rarely would I want to keep them past the actual release date. Music may or may not be threatened by file sharing (see $18.99 price for CDs instead), but movies are safe for several more years. Movie industry has far more to worry about with dvd copiers than internet sharing.

[bch7773 0]

I "know someone" who has over 100 movies that they downloaded. none of them are cams. in fact, all the newer ones (less then 2 years old) are about DVD quality. to download em, you just get the download going before you go to bed, and when you wake up, its done. if you think about the money saved, its easily worth it. but still immoral and illegal.

and DVD copying is even easier... I've heard you just rent a DVD from blockbuster and copy it, then you have a DVD for about 5 bucks.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[crozby 0]

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but still immoral and illegal.

Hardly immoral. These organisations have been screwing their customers for decades. It's about time they have to think about lowering thier profit margins in order to price their products more reasonably.

Look at how iTunes has taken off simply by offering easy access to fairer priced music.

[kelpdiver 2]

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I "know someone" who has over 100 movies that they downloaded. none of them are cams. in fact, all the newer ones (less then 2 years old) are about DVD quality. to download em, you just get the download going before you go to bed, and when you wake up, its done. if you think about the money saved, its easily worth it. but still immoral and illegal.

and DVD copying is even easier... I've heard you just rent a DVD from blockbuster and copy it, then you have a DVD for about 5 bucks.

Copying from DVDs is the problem. That is easy to do, and cheap. Though if you spend $4 to rent it first, you're not coming out very far ahead. DVD prices are reasonable to start with, and drop down to $10 in a hurry. Copies generally require dropping the extras and mildly compressing the movie itself. Dual layer DVDs are still priced close to the cost of a new movie.

Downloading 167 attachments from the internet is not. That requires running the computer all night, disk space, and if it continues to build the ISPs may start charging for bandwidth. This seems to work for those with more time than $$. Most people still can't program their VCR or figure out Tivo.