Andre Yoskowitz
16 Nov 2008 22:51
A new survey published by the The National Research Institute of Legal Policy shows that about 70 percent of teenage Finns have used or currently use file-sharing applications to download copyrighted material.
Online piracy was far and away the largest form of ‘criminal behavior’ among the Finnish youth. 6 percent smoke marijuana or has, 11 percent have participated in a fight, and 15 percent have stolen something from their school or someone else.
29 percent of those who reported downloading unauthorized content also admitted they download movies or music every single day from file sharing services.
Finnish pro-piracy group Piraattiliitto said, “There is an almost unanimous call from the readers to legalize private filesharing. The overwhelming change in the national opinion from anti-piracy to pro-piracy is somewhat surprising, even for us at Piraattiliitto.”
The Finnish copyright lobby however said the results of the survey were "alarming" and they are looking to pass new laws that will "allow copyright holders to force ISPs to pass their threatening emails to the alleged filesharing customers."