According to Tech Crunch, the London-based Global Web Index suggests that streaming curbs piracy.  According to their research, the amount of teens who commit copyright infringement from P2P sources and the such have dropped as more legal streaming sources have become available. 

Data found showed that:

streaming video online has unequivocally turned mainstream with almost two thirds (64%) of Internet users watching video clips, almost a third (31%) watching full length TV and video programming and 13% sharing videos. 27% of UK Internet users have downloaded free TV shows/films to their desktops. The research showed that the most active internet users – those who spend more than three hours a day online – are the most likely to download illegal content, either through a P2P network or unauthorized file sharing websites.

Free, is not the only reason why people want things.  Availability to quench the immediate gimmies is also a factor in obtaining digital goods as some countries have advanced releases of titles whether it be games, music, or video.  People will get at it in what fashion they can and tend to use P2P when there is no other alternative.

Tom Smith, Managing Director of Trendstream says:

“Thanks to the rise of online services such as Spotify, Hulu, iPlayer and of course YouTube, the environment has been created where you can stream almost all the content you would ever want. If everything I want is available on demand, the concept of ownership is diminished. I no longer need to have it on my hard drive. I just play what I want when I want. This is not only a threat to traditional packaged sales of music, TV and film, it will also kill off piracy. Why pirate when you can stream?”

As long as there is availability, people probably won’t pirate if it’s available freely.  But what if like TV programming things cycle and people want to watch it again?  What if someone used screen capture?  Is that the same as my using a VCR to tape a show that is being aired?  That’s one of the few reasons why people may pirate even with streaming being available. 

To reach its conclusions, Global Web Index interviewed 16,000 web users in 16 markets for a first wave. The survey was carried out online between July 6 and the August 7 of this year: 2000 internet users were interviewed in the US and the UK, 1000 users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China and Canada and 750 users took part in the survey in The Netherlands, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, India, South Korea , Australia, Japan. GWI plans a second wave this and next month.

Internet streaming TV and radio is definitely here to stay.  It’s just a matter of what content will be available, and the costs of advertising, bandwidth, and maintenance of servers.  With digital convergence of TV, voice, internet, and cell phones, difference  between physical medium matters not, but what does matter is the data or content that is going over the physical medium.  With that in mind, streaming will be the new entertainment.  Why force people to watch shows at certain times?  Let the people choose, put in the advertising, and people will always come back to satisfy their entertainment needs.

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