More adverts for iTunes would stop digital piracy, according to focus group

A government focus group looking into digital piracy has concluded that the reason that people continue to illegally download copyrighted material is that they don't know where to find the legal alternatives.

The group, Consumer Focus, is sponsored by Peter Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Last week it released the results of a poll showing that of nearly 2000 adults questioned 'only' sixty per cent could name a legal download service such as iTunes or Amazon. This, it says, is evidence that digital piracy is the "inevitable consequence of the music industry’s failure to provide and promote legal music services".

Jill Johnstone, International Director at Consumer Focus, said: “The music industry is shooting itself in the foot by not promoting legal online music services.  If file sharing is causing the damage the music industry claims, why aren’t they putting more effort in to promoting the legal alternatives?"

"Before we go down the enforcement road it is only fair to ask the music industry to do more to make people aware of the legal options," she continued.

The group is also recommending a wider range of business models amongst legal digital download services, and a reform of UK’s copyright licensing to make it more straightforward for music services to offer legal downloads. But while consumer rights groups will no doubt welcome the recommendation as an alternative to disconnecting repeat offenders; the suggestion that people only download illegally because they don't know how to do so legally seems unlikely at best.