• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, January 25, 2007

Nearly half of all U.S. Web users age 12 and older have downloaded music online--while almost one in five, or 18%, have downloaded movies. That's according to a new report released Wednesday by Solutions Research Group.

The report, based on a survey last year of more than 2,600 Americans, found that 30% of respondents said they downloaded music within a month of participating in the survey, while 11% downloaded movies during that time. An additional 18% of respondents downloaded music more than one month in the past, while 7% said the same for movies.

Some respondents indicated that they had a nonchalant attitude about copyright laws. Twelve percent said that downloading copyrighted movies was "not serious at all," while 11% said the same about music. By comparison, shoplifting a music CD or a DVD from a brick-and-mortar store was deemed "not serious at all" by just 4% of respondents.

Web users also reported using their computers for a variety of other entertainment-related functions. Seventy-nine percent said they have listened to music from their PCs, while 62% have burned music CDs, 42% have transferred songs to a digital media player, 56% have watched DVDs, 47% have watched or downloaded a TV show or video, and 33% have burned a video to a DVD.