The government's headline-grabbing plans to crack down on internet piracy have so far had little effect on the levels of illegal peer-to-peer filesharing, according to a new survey published today by BPI, the music industry body.

British web users are also turning to other methods to swap and download copyrighted material, including sending each other emails, visiting unlicensed foreign online music retailers and using so-called "cyberlockers" to store and swap music. The BPI argues that these new forms of piracy justify the government's recent controversial plans to amend copyright law at will.

After months of wrangling, the government last month proposed measures for dealing with the flood of online piracy. Under the government's plans, which have drawn intense criticism from internet service providers (ISPs), persistent unlawful filesharers will receive warning letters and, if piracy is not reduced by 70%, the government will introduce a series of "technical measures" that could include severing a pirate's broadband connection.

The digital economy bill, which will enter the committee stage in the House of Lords on 6 January, included a highly controversial clause that gives the government sweeping powers to amend the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to deal with any future infringements of copyright. Critics of the plan believe that the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, inserted the clause at the last minute to give the government the ability to combat any new forms of unlawful copyright infringement that might arise if the crackdown on peer-to-peer sharing is effective. Already 237 amendments to the bill have been tabled.

According to the BPI's survey, carried out last month by Harris Interactive, levels of peer-to-peer filesharing are actually up slightly over the last six months, while self-confessed pirates expect they will continue to use such services well into next year.

Harris Interactive interviewed 3,442 Britons aged 16 to 54, just over 1,000 of whom admitted they unlawfully downloaded or shared music. The survey showed a net increase in the use of web-based or non-peer-to-peer (P2P) methods over the last six months, with the biggest increases in use coming from overseas unlicensed MP3 pay sites and newsgroups. Other significant rises included MP3 search engines and forum, blog and board links to cyberlockers, which can be used to store files so other people can download them.

BPI's chief executive, Geoff Taylor, said: "The growth in other, non-P2P methods of downloading music illegally is a concern, and highlights the importance of including a mechanism in the digital economy bill to deal with threats other than P2P."

Nearly half of peer-to-peer filesharers said they used such services on a weekly basis, with 31% using them daily. Whilst pirates use some other sources of copyrighted material, such as overseas MP3 pay sites, newsgroups and forums, more frequently, peer-to-peer users download more tracks – an average of nine a month – compared with 4.9 for overseas MP3 pay sites, 5.3 for newsgroups and 6 for people who use forums to swap music.

Asked whether they would continue to use such sites, current users of unauthorised services reported that they actually intended to increase their illegal activities in the coming six months. While only a net 5% of peer-to-peer users said they would be using filesharing more over the coming six months, a net 40% of users of overseas MP3 sites said they would be using them more.

"There are now more than 35 legal digital music services in the UK, offering music fans a great choice of ways to get music legally," said Taylor. "It's disappointing that levels of illegal P2P use remain high despite this and the publicity surrounding imminent measures to address the problem. It's vital that those measures come into force as quickly as possible."

The survey makes use of "net" figures to show whether people are more or less likely to use certain unlawful services. For instance, asked whether they would be using overseas unlicensed MP3 sites more, less or the same over the next six months, 59% said more, 12% less and 29% said the same producing a "net" positive figure of 47% (see table below).

Usage trends over the last six months (net +/-)

"Thinking of these sources, would you say you use each of them more, the same or less compared to six months ago?"

Overseas MP3 pay sites +47%

Newsgroups +42%

FTP server +29%

MP3 search engine +28%

Emails/IM +25%

Forums, blogs, board links +18%

P2P sites and software +3%

Usage trends in the next six months (net +/-)

"In general, do you think you will be using these sources for downloading music more, the same or less in six months time?"

Overseas MP3 pay sites +40%

Newsgroups +32%

FTP server +17%

Emails / IM +17%

MP3 search engine +16%

Emails / IM +17%

Forums, blogs, board links +12%

P2P sites and software +5%