February 27, 2001 – A whopping majority of Internet users participating in a recent survey – 89 percent – said they have downloaded online content and information. What's more, at least half of the users surveyed by the Consumer Electronics Association think online content should be free.

The report, "Digital Download," found that a good portion of respondents also oppose any kind of Internet government fees or restrictions. Specifically, 92 percent oppose paying taxes for accessing the Internet, another 75 percent oppose paying sales tax for items purchased online, and 61 percent oppose laws that prevent the usage of file sharing software such as Napster.

"This survey underscores that we are on a collision course between intellectual property owners who want consumers to pay by the bit for access and consumers who want free access, but will pay for better or more complete content," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "Public policy debates must shift to reflect the paradigm of the new economy as technology creates new ways for more consumers to access information and entertainment."

The CEA survey also found that most online consumers, or 63 percent, have downloaded various types of multimedia content and information in the past year, and 53 percent said although they have not downloaded online content, they expect to do so within one to two years.

Among other survey findings:

• Half of Internet users oppose fees for downloading content online, and in the cases of fees for downloading information, pictures, audio files and games, consumer opposition rises as high as 77 percent.

• While Internet users want their online content to be free, this does not seem to be deeply diminishing their purchasing habits. In fact, free online content can spur future purchases of music, videos, books, games and computing software, countering the content industry's fear of losing sales to the Internet.

• If consumers can sample content on the Internet for free, most say that they are even more likely to purchase that content. In the case of online music, 33 percent say they will buy more music if they can sample it online.