• by March 24, 2005

The number of people using peer-to-peer systems for sharing music and other files online dropped, as more people download files from iPods and other digital music devices, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Pew reports that while the percentage of Internet users who share files online hasn't changed much in the last year (24 percent), fewer people are using peer-to-peer file sharing. Twenty-one percent of people who download music files say they continue to use peer-to-peer file sharing software compared with 31 percent in February 2004. Use of systems like Apple's iTunes Music Store increased to 34 percent of people who download music versus 17 percent last year.

Pew reports that more than half of Internet music downloaders say they've used systems other than peer-to-peer systems or paid services. E-mail and instant messages were also popular, along with downloading files from a friend's iPod or other digital device. The study was based on a random, telephone-based survey of 1,421 adult Internet users in the United States.