Andre Yoskowitz
29 May 2009 20:28
According to the The Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP), about 7 million UK citizens pirate music, games, movies and software each year, costing the economy at least $12 billion pounds.
On any given weekday, over 1.3 million people can be found using one of many file-sharing networks, adds the board.
Intellectual Property Minister David Lammy adds that the report shows off the grave significance piracy is having on the media industries and the UK economy in general.
"This is not an issue confined by national boundaries and I am sure that other [EU] member states and their copyright industries will find this report of use in the development of policy," he concluded.
Dame Lynne Brindley, SABIP Board member, noted: "This report gives us some baseline evidence from which we can develop a clear research strategy to support policy development in this fast moving area."
That policy is most likely to be forcing ISPs to cut off multiple time offenders, the extremely controversial "3 strikes" laws.