In a cyber world where there is still a strong feeling of anonymity on the web, paying for stuff like film and music is still seen as somewhat optional. There’s been plenty talked and written about exposing individuals that behave in ways that would be unacceptable, and where they’d be held accountable, in the real world. Particularly interesting is the recent landmark case of a blogger in the US exposed by Google for allegedly defaming a fashion model. But when we look at young people’s downloading habits we still see a strong trend for ‘making off without payment’.

If you take the case of watching films online, 77% of 19-25 year-olds never pay to watch film. Of the 23% of young people that do pay, the largest proportion are those that download ‘less often’ than once a month. The reality is that most are using file sharing software like BitTorrent. The thing is that ‘free content’ is everywhere, from newspapers to Youtube. But with Youtube looking to make a loss of $470m this year and Rupert Murdoch’s plan to go ahead with paid-for news online, the free party cannot go on forever, and we may see young people’s attitudes and behaviour changing as a result.

Later on this week we’ll be investigating whether piracy has lead the way for innovation. Stay tuned.