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EU: 51% of Young People Pirated Nothing During the Last YearAndy, 30 Oct 05:05 PM The EU Intellectual Property Office has published its latest Intel

EU: 51% of Young People Pirated Nothing During the Last Year Andy, 30 Oct 05:05 PM The EU Intellectual Property Office has published its latest Intellectual Property and Youth Scoreboard Study. Its stated aim is to better understand which drivers and barriers are the strongest among 15 to 24-year-olds when obtaining digital content online or purchasing physical goods, both legally and illegally. In line with the previous study published in 2016, music remains the most popular content among young people. An impressive 97% stream or download music, 94% download or stream movies and series, with games following behind with 92%. Roughly eight out of ten access educational content (82%) with a similar number accessing other TV shows or sport (79%). Of course, not all of these consumers access content legally. The study found that around a third use unlicensed sources but that's down five percentage points on the findings from a similar study in 2016. However, that 33% is split – 21% said they intentionally pirated while 12% said their illicit consumption was unintentional. "Young people who use illegal sources intentionally to access digital content do so primarily to access films and series," the study reveals. "There has been a notable decrease in those using illegal sources to access music —whereas almost all young people download or stream music online, only 39% of those intentionally using illegal sources do so to access music — a decline of 17 percentage points since 2016." The motivations for deliberately using illegal sources aren't new. More than half (56%) cite price as a factor (10 points down from 2016) but just under a third (30%) say they frequent illicit platforms due to content not being available legally or based on the perception that pirate sites offer a larger choice (26%). But at least some users of these platforms can be deterred. "There are almost always reasons that would stop young people from using illegal sources to access digital content. Primarily these relate to having a more affordable offer (55%), followed by a risk of punishment (35 %), and a bad personal experience (29%)," the report adds. The EU study also highlights that in respect of illegal content consumed intentionally, there is a "limited correlation" with more general consumption of digital products. While a majority of all respondents consume films, TV shows, sport, games, eBooks and similar content, intentional pirates tend to focus on streaming or downloading movies and series. "More generally, it is rare for young people to rely exclusively on illegal sources — 80 % of the sample use legal sources to access digital content," the report notes, adding that 51% have not "used, played, downloaded or streamed content from illegal sources in the last 12 months." The full report can be downloaded here (pdf) Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. Criminal Pirate Bay Investigation Closed After Statute of Limitations Expired Ernesto, 30 Oct 01:44 PM On December 9, 2014, the file-sharing world was in turmoil. Swedish police raided the Nacka station, a nuclear-proof datacenter in Stockholm, and confiscated dozens of servers. The raid caused downtime at many popular torrent sites including The Pirate Bay. While a TPB insider later denied that its servers were taken, it remained offline for nearly two months. After the raid, it became clear that The Pirate Bay was indeed the main reason for the enforcement effort. Similar to the earlier raid in 2005, a criminal investigation was launched to hold the operators responsible and keep the site offline. However, where the first enforcement action resulted in several criminal convictions, the most recent investigation had limited success. Last week we reported that the police ended the investigation into Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij, who was seen as a prime suspect. Today, we can report that the entire criminal investigation is now closed. While the prosecution gathered a substantial amount of evidence, the case can't continue, simply because time ran out. "The investigation was closed because the statute of limitations expired," Anna Ginner, Prosecutor at the National Intellectual Property Crime Unit tells us. There was enough evidence to pursue a case against a suspect, which we believe is Fredrik Neij. However, the prosecution was unable to reach this person for "final serving," a process where defendants can review the evidence, which is mandatory in Sweden. "The investigation was finished. However, we did not manage to contact the suspect to give him the possibility to review the investigation on final serving," Ginner notes. Although there are no criminal convictions, the police and prosecution did book some results, Ginner says. The investigation led to a legal battle over the thepiratebay.se domain name, which was registered to Neij. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which forfeited the domain to the Swedish state last year. The prosecution may have hoped for more but the lack of a conviction doesn't come as a complete surprise. In 2017, the then leading prosecutor Henrik Rasmusson already warned that time was running out and that oral evidence was weakening. Due to secrecy provisions, the prosecution can't comment on whether The Pirate Bay remains a topic of interest, but it's clear that the investigation following the 2014 raid is now closed. Last week Neij told us that he is pleased that the case was dropped. "Now that the investigation is closed, I'm looking forward to being compensated for them unnecessarily holding all my computer equipment for four years and ten months," he said. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. ©2019 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company