Streaming has been replacing piracy. The Global Web Index mentioned that instead of piracy, streaming is a better remedy for getting content. The Global Web Index is a service providing leading data, insights, and thinking on web behavior, motivations, and impact from 16 key markets and 32,000 consumer surveys. Two online market research agencies are collaborated to form Global Web Index; Lightspeed Research and Trendstream.

Music Ally’s consumer research company, The Leading Question came up with other research and suggestions earlier this year which mentioned the dramatic fall over the past few years of teenagers who download copyrighted content from illegal sources.

The Global Web Index shows how streaming videos online has clearly turned mainstream with almost sixty-four percent of Internet users watching video clips, almost thirty-one percent watching full length television and video programming, and thirteen percent sharing videos. The research also showed how users who spend more than three hours daily online are those most likely to download illegal content, done through a P2P (peer-to-peer) network or unauthorized file sharing websites. Research discovered that people who download illegal media content, do it mostly to get their hands on the content as soon as it’s available. They also want to access the content for free. Consumers will use P2P networks when they can’t find what they want in another way.

“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?”-Tom Smith, Managing Director of Trendstream

Streaming is a better alternative to piracy which is stealing while streaming is sharing. Streaming is legal and free to the consumers. People are more likely to use a service when the content is provided for free. The problem is now companies are trying to find a way to profit from these users. They want the service providers to start charging. If that does happen, piracy use may rise.