According to a survey commissioned by U.K. communications regulator Ofcom, the classic Pareto principle is in full effect for people who use pirated versions of copyrighted material. The top 20 percent of copyright infringers account for 88 percent of all infringements (with the top 10 percent being responsible for a whopping 79 percent).

What's surprising, however, is that the top 20 spent £168 (about $253) on content during the six-month monitoring period. That's not just more than the amount spent by the lower 80 percent (£105, or about $158), it's significantly more than the £54 ($81) spent by the average person who never pirates anything. In other words, the worst pirates get the vast majority of their stuff for free, but they take in so much media that they end up spending 321 percent more than people who never pirate.

It's a fascinating study, and not only because it turns expectations about pirate behavior upside down. The goal was to classify and predict pirate behavior, with an eye on figuring out how best to curtail it. What wasn't a surprise were the top factors that would encourage copyright infringers to stop: better pricing and increased availability.

(via TorrentFreak)