Music pirates sail close to the wind in the office

The
majority of music piracy happens in the workplace, according to a new report.

Research
unveiled this morning from The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) indicates
that of the eight million people in the UK that claim to be downloading music –
92 per cent of them (7.4 million people) are doing so via illegal sites and P2P
(Peer-to-Peer) software.

Websense,
the internet management company, estimates that at least 75 per cent of such
downloads occur within the workplace due to the faster Internet connections
companies provide and the amount of time people now spend at their desks.

The
company said this has enormous legal liability implications for both business
and employees.

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Frank
Coggrave, UK regional director of Websense, said: "If companies are not proactive
in preventing illegal Internet activity they are opening themselves up to a
whole world of pain in terms of legal liability, not to mention the security of
their own company. The golden rule for businesses looking to prevent such
problems is to simply not allow such applications to be accessed and run on
work PCs."

By Quentin Reade