A government report in Switzerland has that there's hardly any financial damage to piracy, and as a result, the government has decide to keep piracy legal.
Despite 1 in 3 Swiss citizens, over the age of 15, engaged in some for of web related piracy, the government says that as long as the piracy is for personal use, and not for commercial (re-sell) reasons.
While rights holder will already be angry at the Swiss government's actions, which is out of step with other government around the world that have been taking tougher approaches to online copyright, the report also criticizes rights holders for overreacting to the web piracy problem. It asks rights holders to use the web to their advantage, or face being "losers" if they hold on to their outdated business models.
And on the financial damage to piracy, the report found that despite high piracy rates, spending of disposable income on entertainment has stayed constant - people are still spending all the money they have on entertainment products, concerts and merchandise, it's just that the Internet, via piracy, now allows them to get content that they otherwise would not have been capable of buying due to financial restrictions.
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