How do real people view piracy?

The question of whether what they are doing is legal is "quite far down the list" when consumers consider buying counterfeit goods, according to research cited by Paul Owens at BOP Consulting at this morning's event. We need to look at educating those consumers he said, but we also need to re-evaluate whether the current copyright system is working.

But Tibor Gold added that there was a distinction between private and public behaviour that needed to be taken into account. He said that while it may not be acceptable to sue an individual consumer for copying a film or music at home that didn't mean that it should become acceptable for companies to make commercial use of copied formats.

Gold also stressed the dangers of not cracking down on the use of counterfeit goods, giving as an example the dangerous use of non-legitimate goods in air aviation.