Hong Kong world leader -
In the past two and a half years, Hong Kong internet users have snagged at least 130 million songs and millions of dollars worth of software programmes, making them the world leaders for illegal software downloading.
“Downloading illegally is not a niche activity anymore, it’s a mainstream activity,” Steven Yap, director of the global research company TNS is quoted as saying in an AFP report here.
“We believe this is the highest in the world.”
A TNS survey of 500 computer users in Hong Kong found 48% had downloaded at least one song. But within the “high-profile 15-24 age group”, the figure soared to 81%, “a fifth of whom had downloaded more than 250 songs,” says the report going on:
“A Hong Kong government-commissioned survey released at the same time ironically revealed growing awareness of what it meant to infringe intellectual property rights and even concluded that more than 90 percent of respondents felt the problem deserved action.”
The former British colony has for some time, “been accustomed to acquiring its commercial digital products for free,” Yap is quoted as saying. “The Internet has replaced fly-by-night high-street stores as the most popular place to obtain pirated music and software.”
