Different legal channels to accessing contents

Participants were accessing contents through a range of legal channels. They had a number of legal alternatives before them. Most of the participants across the topologies relied on the usual way to accessing contents but occasionally many of them used alternatives to file sharing applications. Along with music files, participants accessed games, TV series, popular films and much more.

Music
For younger participant music was the important content for downloading. They made use of the usual way of accessing contents. Usage of authorized file sharing sites and applications was very rare in participants. Occasionally, some relied on iTunes to access the music. YouTube.com was considered as the chief alternative to file sharing applications and many used the site to stream videos. After they have viewed the videos files, they would convert it using the conversion technology to be downloaded. There was concern about the legality of accessing videos and converting them via YouTube.

In the case of older participants, legal channels were a preferred choice to access contents. Many relied on legal channels, even people who downloaded contents frequently. There were many authorized channels like YouTube to accessing contents. Participants who were using the legal channels were not sure about the legality of them. Very few purchased music or film from sites such as Amazon.com or Play.com.

TV series
To watch TV series most of the participants used iPlayer (BBC) or On Demand (Virgin). They claimed that these sites allowed them to retain the content for long and did not repeat the programs and so they downloaded the series. There were people using VPN technology to hide their location and they were unaware of the legality of the technology.

Film
Some people had subscriptions with Lovefilm.com but they discontinued it once they realised that the service didn’t provide sufficient films. Some didn’t have enough time with them to watch all the films. Accessing move from legal channels was uncommon among the participants. There were a small proportion of people who had purchased films from Xbox marketplace or TV channels. Tesco’s video rental service was relied by many movie buffs. Most of the participants went for Cinema very frequently. Older participants relied on hard copy.

Games
Gaming was popular among the male participants. Legal channels were relied on for purchasing games by everyone. PlayStation and Xbox owners depended on legal channels as they didn’t want companies to detect they were using unauthorized games. They believed that when they used chipped consoles their system might shut down. Since the quality offered by the games was good, they were ready to pay for them. Games were played over and over again, so the player’s didn’t mind paying for it. Majority of the user’s brought the games online. Younger participants said that they downloaded the contents from their Xbox or 360 consoles. Authorized alternatives to file sharing were used by many participants for certain reasons.