The government of Australia has released the results of a survey conducted between the 25th of March and April 13th of 2015 showing that 43% of Australian citizens who regularly use the internet for media consumption had downloaded at least some form of illegal content over the internet. Over 2,630 people over the age of 12 were included in the poll. This poll was closely modeled on a poll taken in England so that direct comparisons could be made. By contrast, only 21% of those polled in England admitted to illegal downloads.
The current Australian government has enacted stricter regulations concerning copyright infringement, and further actions are expected.
Of those who were polled, 60% are consuming digital content from both legal and illegal sources, so use of the internet for entertainment tracks that of other countries, where the internet has become a primary conduit for movies, television and music.
Those who download illegally are often some of the best customers for legal content as well, and this holds true for Australia. "It is interesting that almost three quarters of those internet users who consumed content illegally were also accessing content legally," stated Communications Alliance Chief Executive Officer John Stanton.
Movies and television shows were the most commonly downloaded content through illegal means, and the poll attempted to find what it would take for people to stop using illegal sources. The answers were split, with 39% emphasizing a reduction in cost, 38% wanting better availability of legal content, 36% who felt that media should be available in Australia as soon as it was released in other countries and 21% saying that letters from their ISP's would discourage them from copyright infringement. The poll was set up so that you could answer in more than one category, obviously.
Forty-three per cent of internet users were not certain if their sources were legal or not, and this increased to 50% for women, and 55% for people over the age of 55.
You can read the Australian government announcement here.
