US illegal downloads on the rise

The number of people illegally downloading copyrighted tracks from the internet has risen after a six-month slump, analysts in the US have said.

The number of US households downloading tracks from sites rose 6% in October and 7% in November, market researchers the NPD Group said on Thursday.

November's figure of 11 million downloaders was up one million compared to September's figures.

The rise follows a six-month slump, attributed to music industry lawsuits.

NPD vice president Russ Crupnick said the increase - taken from a survey of 10,000 US households - may be a seasonal rise because of the amount of popular albums released in the run-up to Christmas.

He also said the drop in media coverage of the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) legal action against illegal downloaders may also have contributed to the increase.

Hundreds of US individuals have been sued by the RIAA

Surveys in May showed that 20 million people in the US were downloading tracks.

The RIAA has so far launched 380 copyright infringement lawsuits against individuals since September. In some cases people have paid thousands of dollars to settle the suits.

"For us, the ultimate measurement of success has been, and continues to be, creating an environment where legal online music services can flourish," said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy.

"All indicators point in the right direction - sales of CDs, legal downloads and awareness that file sharing copyrighted music is illegal - have all increased," he said, adding more lawsuits against downloaders were being prepared.

'Mainstream activity'

Meanwhile, other research has shown Hong Kong has the world record for the number of songs illegally downloaded - 130 million in the last two-and-a-half years.

The poll by market research company TNS showed that 48% of more than 500 computer users had downloaded at least one song. In the 15-24 age group, however, 81% had illegally downloaded tracks.

"Downloading illegally is not a niche activity anymore, it's a mainstream activity," said TNS director Steven Yap. "We believe this is the highest in the world."

A Hong Kong government-commissioned survey released at the same time said showed 90% of respondents were aware of the copyright implications and said action should be taken against it.

The high levels of internet downloading has been attributed to the high levels of broadband internet in the former British colony.