95% of Internet music downloads are Illegal, says IFPI

According to the latest report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, 95% of all music downloads online are illegal. This despite the growing popularity of legal digital music downloads.

John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of IFPI, said:

There is a momentous debate going on about the environment on which our business, and all the people working in it, depends. Governments are beginning to accept that, in the debate over 'free content' and engaging ISPs in protecting intellectual property rights, doing nothing is not an option if there is to be a future for commercial digital content.

Rights advocates like Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group, responds:

We are worried by the recording industry's desire to clamp down on illicit file sharers. We need to see how much better these companies do by getting their services right before governments start pushing drastic and draconian laws forward.