MAY 13, 2009 • In a study of illegal file-sharing by content tracking firm BayTSP, BitTorrent and Donkey accounted for 90% of all illicit download traffic. In addition, Spain was ranked as the No. 1 worst offender in illegal file sharing, followed closely by Italy and France. The United States, which was ranked first in 2007, dropped to No. 4.

Impact: Piracy is an ugly problem that has always plagued the entertainment industry on a global basis. There is a real question of whether online distribution of products will make the problem better or worse. In Western Europe, Italy and Spain have historically had the biggest piracy problems and this trend seems to be continuing as online usage ramps up.  In most emerging markets, piracy consists of buying an illegitimate physical copy of a product. However, as China grew its online infrastructure, they were actually able to build an online distribution model that got around the piracy issue. Hopefully, China will prove to be a model for the rest of the world.