Web Video Piracy is the act of uploading and downloading licensed content onto the Internet through sites such as YouTube.

$60 billion is lost to content producers due to web video piracy.

Source: Diane Mermigas, “Google-YouTube deal expands broadband nation,” Hollywood Reporter, October 10, 2006, (last accessed: September 26, 2007).

A study released in 2010 found that despite peer-to-peer networking downloading falling by 15 percent, the illegal downloading of content increased by 3 percent over the same period.

The study found that the cause of the increase was due to less people using P2P networks but instead downloading songs directly from websites and utilizing streaming content services.

Source:  Sebastian Seibt, “Study shows how downloaders skirt anti-piracy laws,” France 24, March 10, 2010.

Illegal downloading activity through the use of P2P networks decreased by 25 percent from the previous year in 2009.

Source:  Greg Sandoval, “P2P music use down; users may be stuffed,” CNet News, Media Maverick, March 1, 2010.

Web video hosting sites similar to YouTube has severely impacted the porn industry, according to executives.   In 2009, DVD sales decreased by 20 percent, with Internet piracy playing a key role.

There are up to 1,000 “tubes” sites that either play pirated movies or amateur content. Industry leader Vivid Entertainment stated that it sends several hundreds of take down notices to websites that are pirating their content.

Source:  Jon Swartz, “Free porn on ‘tube sites’ puts a big dent in industry,” USA Today, March 2, 2010.

Creative industries in the United Kingdom claim that up to 50 percent of all Internet traffic in the country is file-sharing activities.

Source:  Robert Verkaik, “Internet piracy crackdown by US studios,” Independent, March 1, 2010.

Brand Protection firm MarkMonitor estimates that Internet sellers are earning $137 Billion a year from selling counterfeit goods online.

Source:  Warwick Ashford, “Online counterfeits pose risk to buyers and manufacturers,” Computer Weekly, January 26, 2010.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported that 95 percent of music downloaded off the Internet were pirated in 2009.

Source:  Eric Pfanner, “Music Industry Counts the Cost of Piracy,” New York Times, January 21, 2010.

According to Mixed Martial Arts league UFC, there were 271 illegal piracy streams of a single pay per view event over the Internet that had over 140,000 views.

Source:  Steven Marrocco, “UFC vows to sue individuals for pay-per-view piracy,” Vancouver Sun, January 4, 2010.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Spain is responsible for around 20 percent of the worldwide illegal downloads on the Internet.

Source:  Pamela Rolfe, “Spain sets up anti-piracy body,” Hollywood Reporter, October 22, 2009.

Depending on the region of the world, Peer to Peer networks account 43 percent to 70 percent of software, movie, music and video game piracy.

Source:  Eric Lai, “What’s replacing P2P, BitTorrent as pirate hangouts?,” ComputerWorld, October 9, 2009.