‘The Dutch find illegal downloading acceptable if there is no alternative’ – IT Pro – News

According to European research, 44 percent of Dutch people find it acceptable to download illegally if there is no obvious legal alternative. This puts the Dutch at the top of the list of Europeans who think so.

Only in Bulgaria and Latvia are more people who find illegal downloading acceptable for lack of a legal alternative. In those countries this is 50 and 48 percent respectively. Significantly fewer Belgians than the Dutch find illegal downloading acceptable, the percentage is 30 percent.

The acceptance of illegal downloading under such circumstances has declined in the Netherlands in recent years. In 2017 this was 5 percentage points higher. The decrease is even stronger in Belgium, where the percentage was 10 percentage points higher at the previous meeting.

Relatively few Dutch people find illegal downloading acceptable if it is only intended for personal use. 23 percent of the Dutch agree with this statement, 40 percent among Belgians.

The numbers are there in an extensive study of the European Union Intellectual Property Office. It investigated the perception, awareness and behavior of Europeans when it comes to intellectual property. The survey was conducted among 25,636 residents of 27 European countries. A thousand participants from the Netherlands and Belgium took part. It is the third time that the research has been conducted. A similar study was published in 2017 and 2013.

When asked whether participants in the study have downloaded or streamed something illegally in the past twelve months, relatively few Dutch respondents with a confirmation. 10 percent admits to have done so, 13 percent of Belgians.

According to the survey, 36 percent of Dutch people have paid in the past twelve months for legal online access to copyrighted material. That is a decrease of 8 percentage points compared to 2017. There is no decrease in all other European countries. The research does not explain why there would be a decrease in the Netherlands. 30 percent of Belgians said they paid for online content, an increase of 5 percentage points.

The studies show that in general the acceptance of illegal downloading in Europe is declining. More and more people prefer a legal alternative, if it is affordable. Europeans are also more positive about the diversity of the legal offer. 64 percent now indicate that legal services have a better offer than illegal alternatives. In addition, 76 percent indicate that the quality of the legal services is better.

Fewer Europeans fear any penalties they could face for illegally downloading. 35 percent of those surveyed cite this as a reason to stop illegal downloading. In 2017 this was still 44 percent. The main reason for not downloading illegally is the availability of affordable legal alternatives, 58 percent of Europeans believe. That is also less than in 2017, when it was still 70 percent.

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