According to a study commissioned by the French anti-piracy outfit Alpa, French movie fans are illegally downloading as many movies as they are paying to see in theaters.
The study shows that in France, 13.5 million films were illegally downloaded through P2P while cinema ticket sales were only 12.2 million for the same period, the month of May 2008.
"This is a major phenomenon that could endanger the cinema and audiovisual industry," Alpa representative Frederic Delacroix added.
The study also added that over 10 million films are illegally downloaded each month in France hitting a peak of 16.6 million in December of last year.
American films were the brunt of the illegal downloads at 66 percent with French films coming a distant second at 19 percent. The blockbuster hit "Transformers" was the top downloaded film, with 3.7 million hits since October of last year.
"This is a major phenomenon that could endanger the cinema and audiovisual industry," Alpa representative Frederic Delacroix added.
The study also added that over 10 million films are illegally downloaded each month in France hitting a peak of 16.6 million in December of last year.
American films were the brunt of the illegal downloads at 66 percent with French films coming a distant second at 19 percent. The blockbuster hit "Transformers" was the top downloaded film, with 3.7 million hits since October of last year.
