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Angus Reid Surveys Find Public Against New Media and File Sharing ISP Levies

Angus Reid Strategies has released two polls that find that the Canadian public is opposed to proposed new ISP levies for new media content creation and for file sharing.  80 percent of people surveyed said that a possible new CRTC levy on ISPs to pay for Canadian new media content creation was unnecessary and/or inappropriate.  In a second survey, 73 percent of respondents said that an ISP levy to compensate for file sharing was unnecessary and/or inappropriate.

The file sharing survey finds the public split on file sharing, but also finds that file sharers are more likely to purchase music and attend live performances.  45 percent of those surveyed said that downloading music was simply people doing what they should be able to on the Internet and 27% said that they shouldn't do it but that it is not a big deal.  Only three percent of respondents said that file sharers "are criminals who should be punished by law."  While the survey found that downloading still exceeds paid downloads, those downloading were also more likely to buy a CD (41 percent to 34 percent for non-downloaders) and more likely to have attended a concert in the past year (65 percent to 52 percent for non-downloaders).

5 Comments

  1. Interesting Question: TV Programming
    Interestingly, the question posed stated that the proposed levy would be “towards the development of Canadian TV programming”. Those who said “yes” were required to say that this would be “a worthwhile initiative to help ensure that there will continue to be high quality Canadian TV programming in the future.”

  2. all this is a way for them to sneak new laws at us
    watch it come sideways and watch the control, ISPS want it , and hollywood wants ti.
    What we dont want is to pay more for tech thats so dirt cheap its riduculous

    think about it
    bittorrent remooves the need for cable copanies and satellite
    so of course they will fight it
    it also removes the riaa, mpaa need for distribution so of course they fight it

    the cost now for distribution is 0 to them
    why should i pay more.
    the level of pay per cdr per avg artist is what 25 cents , now divide that by 10-15 tracks
    thats WHAT i offer you for music NO LESS NO MORE.

    tv put commercials in it and release it, even at home on a cable box i will not watch them so your attitude about that and i know your watching , is moot.

    Thats how it gets paid for and it should hten be free as in your cost to initially seed form a server.

    Ya could setup this way and make money too.
    5$ a month for all the tv shows and movies
    and remove the cdr levy
    cant have it both ways

  3. gotoo a movie theatre pay $$$ and watch tv style commericals
    ya right so if they make money form ads then i either want the movie to be free or we’ll pirate
    case closed and enjoy your summer folks im going off for the summer , my way a saying up yours to the back end isp bell cnada

  4. ALSO
    1$ quadruples there revenues they asking for 3% want 15 times that much so good bye ot the net , and guess what a lot a poeple now wont be able to afford it
    GOOD MOVE

    HOLLYWOOD ECONOMIC TERRORISTS

  5. The results of the filesharing survey are hardly surprising. As an individual who uses this technology & has been involved with their community in the past, I can honestly say that, for the most part, these people do indeed tend to be the largest music enthusiasts out there. They look at P2P like a “try before you buy” model. It’s also the best way to discover new music, as well. I’ll give you a personal example – I downloaded Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts, totally free, via “illegal” P2P services. Yet on the shelf next to me rests the same album – a limited edition copy I purchased after I found I really liked it. Cost: ~$360US. A bit of an extreme example, but a pattern I’ve seen repeated over & over. The point is that these people have no issues spending their money on music.

    I also posit that the levy would essentially make any & all P2P (upload & download) legal, since I’d be paying for it. (as if I wasn’t paying for my music already) Gone would be the days of living in fear of persecution due to me “pirating” RIAA music that they say is costing them money that they otherwise would have gotten from me.

    o_O

    BTW Radiohead, NIN, and the Flashbulb (along with a growing # of artists releasing their material through “illegal” P2P sites) say “hi”