Illegal downloads still rampant
Updated on 23 December 2008
Thousands of websites still enable users to evade the internet industry's current crackdown on peer-to-peer file sharing.
They offer major films and music titles to illegally download for free, with very little risk of being traced.
As leading entertainment figures launch a campaign to highlight the impact of internet piracy on jobs and future productions, Channel 4 News has discovered that some even contain adverts sold by the search giant Google.
It is Europe's fastest selling download ever - more than half a million people bought Alexandra Burke's single Hallejulia online.
But many more will not have paid a penny - instead downloading it illegally from the net.
It is not just music that is being hit, TV programmes like the BBC's Spooks, along with thousands of films are being illegally downloaded by an estimated six million people across the UK, angering senior figures in the entertainment industry.
Stephen Garrett, managing director of Kudos Films told Channel 4 News: "It's hard to asses the damage but it's running into tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds. That's money that's not being reinvested in TV shows or movies and ultimately therefore in jobs. People will actually lose their jobs if this remains unchecked."
And worryingly for the entertainment industry - online pirates are moving onto sites that are virtually impossible to trace.
Most crackdowns focus on stopping peer-to-peer file sharing.
This is where someone copies their CDs, films, and games onto their computer and through a network allows other users to download them. But it is possible to trace the original file sharer.
So that has led some to move to file hosting sites where they only need to upload their material once, it is then available to anyone on the web with little risk of its source being traced.
The biggest file hosting site is Rapidshare, and the chief executive of Talk Talk, Britain's third largest ISP, Charles Dunstone told Channel 4 News: "The thing that really frustrates me is that the people that I meet in the content industry and the government know so little about how this industry works. The minute we try to do something, they'll [file sharers] all move, they'll create new sites and the whole thing will be a game of cat of mouse."
Channel 4 News has found thousands of websites that give access to films and music stored on Rapidshare, although it says illegal files will be taken down if the rights holder gets in touch.
The sites are so wide spread that on a number of popular illegal download sites, internet giant Google has been selling adverts using a system that tries to match relevant advertisers' specific content.
Media lawyer Mark Stevens told Channel 4 News that Google are "selling advertisements on a site which is effectively hosting illegal content. They can't just turn a Nelsonic blind eye saying 'we're selling advertisements and we don't know what the content is.'
"They have to ensure that the advertisements they sell are surrounded by content that is legal decent and honest. That's their obligation under the Advertising Standards Code."
Google initially dismissed our findings but later removed their adverts from this and a number of other sites that Channel 4 News found. They declined to come on camera but in a statement said:
"We have clear policies on copyrighted content on our platforms, but it is not our responsibility to police third party sites... Our AdSense policies also state that it is not permitted to show ads against infringing content, and we'll remove them if notified by the copyright holder."
We also asked Google if they would return the revenue they've made from selling advertising on these sites, but they refused to comment.
Next month the government will reveal how successful its soft touch approach to tackle file sharing has been but the sites we have found show how tough the problem they are facing is.
