File-sharing: a profile
p2pnet.net News Feature:-
A Profile in File-Sharing
By Thomas Mennecke – Slyck
On February 1st, 2004, Warez P2P initiated a four month study. The study contained 20 questions, mostly regarding the demographics and behavior of the file-sharing community. While many of the results were already common knowledge, some portions offered an interesting insight of the P2P world.
In recent months, subscription based music services have stalled to some extent. Even iTunes failed to reach its goal of 100 million downloads for its 1 year anniversary. Supporting this, a recent survey by MacWorld UK found that the British are unwilling to pay 99 pence per download. That equates into an astounding $1.80 (today’s exchange rate.)
This is just about where the Warez P2P survey becomes interesting. In the survey, the question was asked "Suppose that pay-per-download services like iTunes and Napster were to provide a library as comprehensive as most P2P network at 25 cents per download. What would you do?"
Interestingly, 16% said they would use iTunes instead of P2P, 39% would still use P2P exclusively. Perhaps more interesting, 29% said they would use both. 5% said they would use iTunes if it was priced at 5 cents or less.
Another point of interest from the survey is the amount of CDs individuals’ purchase.
Two questions were asked regarding their CD buying habits before and after the advent of P2P. Before the advent of file-sharing, 47% bought less than 10 CDs per year. After the advent of file-sharing, this number only fell to 41.5% per year. However, those buying 10 to 20 CDs per year actually increased, albeit fractional, from 26.07% to 26.58%. Those buying 20 or more was stable, at 16.14% to 15.33%, respectively.
While this study cannot be conclusively verified as a scientifically sound profile into the hearts and minds of the file-sharing community, it offers an alternative viewpoint from the mystical statistics provided by the copyright industry.
Read the full survey here.
