The first source to check would be the survey itself, carried out by Entertainment Media Research (EMR). It is important to know who they surveyed, and how many were surveyed. It would appear that the surveys were completed via website survey popups, and 1,500 opinions were taken into account to form the basis of the survey. The survey has been carried out for the last five years, and that has is being reported by the BBC alongside the Guardian in previous years suggests that it is a reliable source.
However, deeper research suggests that EMR was commissioned by Olswang, a legal firm, to conduct the latest survey. This makes the claim that the amount of legal downloaders now exceeds the number of pirates potentially risky for publication. Therefore the second source I would investigate would be Olswang, to discover if they had any links to the music recording industry. If they did, it could possibly comprimise the findings of the survey, as they may make personal gain as a result of its findings.
The third source I would investigate would be the pirates themselves. I would ask the owner of a leading bit-torrent website to comment on the findings of the survey, using the opinions of the sites userbase as a guide to whether the people the survey says would be deterred would actually stop pirating if threatened.
The fourth source would be a a member of the record industry involved in digital music, in order to gather a balanced opinion, and to get their opinions about piracy. The final source would be an industry observer, possibly an editor of a technology magazine, for a expert opinion about a possible resolution to the debate, and for contextual understanding. This would hopefully lead to a clear and objective story going to print.
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