According to the UK research, nearly one third of eight to 13 year olds are sharing songs on their mobiles via the Bluetooth wireless feature, but without the consent of copyright holders.
Out of the 1,500 children surveyed, 45% said that while they didn’t currently share music, they would like to in the future.
Intuitive Media’s co-founder Robin Hart, which conducted the survey, said the findings posed a threat to the music industry, and could exacerbate the problems which begun with illegal file sharing on the net. However, he did point out that the children polled did not realize they were doing anything illegal.
In the UK, over a million children under 10 have a mobile phone. The latest models feature advanced music capabilities that enable digital file sharing.
Mobile music swapping is expected to take off as a mass market phenomenon in early 2007 with the arrival of newer models this Christmas.
