More than half of Singaporeans download music and videos illegally while at the same time condemning piracy as a form of theft, Xinhua news agency reports citing The Straits Times .

A survey of 900 people last year by Singapore-based research consultancy Sycamore Research and Marketing showed 61 percent of Singaporeans aged 16 to 64 download movies and videos illegally over the Internet.

Another 17 percent do so at least once a week.

Piracy is rampant among youths in particular, with seven out of 10 between the ages of 16 and 24 downloading illegal content.

However, some 66 percent of respondents conceded what they were doing was stealing.

Ang Kwee Tiang, regional director of International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said the local music recording industry was in dire straits and urged responsible online behaviour.

What was an almost S$90 million (US$71 million) industry in 1997 made just S$20 million in 2012, Ang said.

“This was despite the availability of legal and reasonably priced alternatives in Singapore like Amped, a streaming service, and Rdio, an Internet radio service,” he said.

Ang urged that quick steps be taken to make illegal content less available - a challenge when most illegal content is easily accessible and hosted overseas.

- Bernama