There is no doubt that online piracy is more common than ever.
Although there is still much debate on how to handle internet piracy – as demonstrated by the SOPA and PIPA controversy – we can greatly increase our chances of finding the proper solution by taking a look at statistics related to the prevalence of online piracy and statistics related to the economic cost of online piracy.
See also: Criminal Activity on Facebook [Infographic]
An infographic (posted below) was recently published by BackgroundCheck.org that provides us with some great statistics related to internet piracy in the 21st century.
Although it can be debated who is responsible for online media piracy, the existence and costs related to piracy cannot be denied.
Highlights of the Online Piracy Statistics Infographic:
- In 2008 41% of software installed on PCs was pirated.
- $51 billion was lost in 2009 due to online piracy.
- The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation claims 24% of global Internet bandwidth consists of pirated content.
- From 2004 to 2009, 30 billion songs were downloaded illegally.
- Movie piracy costs US film studios $25 billion annually.
- Over 70% of Americans feel that sharing movie and music files with family members is okay.
- Over 50% of Americans feel that sharing movie and music files with friends is okay.
- Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on anti-piracy campaigns annually.
- 70% of 18-29 year-olds have downloaded illegal content.
- Democrats and Independents are significantly more likely to download media illegally.
- Universities spend millions of dollars to combat piracy annually.
