UK sees illegal CD boom

Pirating is up by 50 per cent, says BPI

The number of illegal CDs in the UK has increased by almost 50 per cent, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

In the lobby group's annual handbook, it estimates that pirated CDs cost the UK industry more than £27m a year.

The report blames the increase in the numbers of CD burners available on home computers as the reason for the boom.

The report claimed that more than four million counterfeit CDs were created in 2001.

And almost 152 million recordable CDs are expected to be used for home recording in the UK this year.

CD copying has been blamed for the worldwide slump in CD sales, but the UK seems to buck this trend. In 2001, sales in the UK increased by more than 5 per cent while in the rest of the world they fell by the same percentage.

News source: vnunet.com