It is copyright infringement too, but it is also theft. By stealing copyrighted material, you are also preventing the people who generated the material from being paid for it. You are denying the vendors the ability to be paid for their product.

Illigal downloading of copyrighed material is not theft, it is an infringement of the copyright of the copyright holder.

I have no problem downloading pirated material. It's wealth distribution I'm pretty happy with. Would I steal a CD from a music shop? Yep, if it was brand store and I didn't think I might get caught. Will I miss those American movies I steal if they don't make them? Not at all.

As for porn, it's a hard one (bah-doom chsh!). I don't think it's evil but I don't think it does anybody any favours. I do think it is too easy to access, however. But its use stems from such an instinctual urge that I don't think any morality issues or social prudishness will be able to impact on it.

One must wonder whether those surveyed (and whether most of the people commenting here) understand the consequences of either.

Illegal downloading of copyrighted material is stealing. As the public service announcements say - would you walk into a music shop and steal a CD?

"Porn" can have extremely damaging consequences for those who find themselves in the industry. Before people start going on about how it was their choice, yadda yadda yadda, understand that people find themselves in situations that are entirely unexpected, or get into bad situations out of necessity.

A distinction is also required between "porn" and eroticism. Eroticism tends to be more artistic, whereas porn is purely for the sexual pleasure of the viewer.

One must also remember that surveys mean nothing when taken by themselves. They are at best an indicator of behaviour. The survey of course is very dependent on the questions being asked. At the risk of being flamed, just look at the "smacking" referendum. The ridiculous and uneducated question meant that the results of the referendum were pointless.

And for those confused, the inference is that the downloaded porn is "legal".

Porn is also copyright material, the difference is the porn makers don't use creative accounting like the big movie studios do to make it look like they made a loss so they don't have to pay out those on a percentage of earnings. As for the main record companies, they are blatant thieves, anyone who feels a ounce of guilt should do a bit of research as to how the record companies steal and lie from the artists.

who downloads porn at work and doesn't expect to be caught? haha idiot

Nothing wrong with porn or illegal downloading.

Lol at AJ.

And for those wondering about pirated porn all I can say is who cares! What about Pirate porn?

Incidentally, who commissioned the survey I wonder...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that significantly greater than 13%/18% of NZers do, or have, 'illegally' downloaded music or video. All these numbers show is that, unsurprisingly, something legal is considered "more acceptable" than something not legal - a pointlessly self-fulfilling statement. This smacks of propaganda.