FT.com / Business / US

FT.com / Business / US: "The survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed about 14 per cent of Americans downloaded music files over the internet in the four weeks ending on December 14. That compared with 29 per cent last May, just before the Recording Industry Association of America announced it was preparing to sue people who shared unauthorised music files over the internet.

'We have never seen another internet activity drop off to this degree,' said Lee Rainie, director of Pew. 'The drop-off was just striking, particularly since overall internet activity goes up and up.'

But critics of the RIAA's controversial lawsuits say it is too early to draw any conclusions.

Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet users' campaigning group, noted that data from internet tracking services showed little decline in activity on online peer-to-peer services such as Kazaa.
It is impossible to know the true extent of the decline from the Pew survey. For example, the threat of legal action has made respondents a lot more wary about admitting they download music."

True dat. Since this action forced me over the edge into boycott territory, it's tough to say, for me at least, that it is helping their cause.