Yes, there's an endless sea of legit video distribution systems about to collide with traditional broadcast interests -- but film piracy is also ramping up just as quickly. According to a new study, 20 million Americans have downloaded a movie off of the Internet in the last month, with 80% claiming they exclusively use file-sharing sites to do do. The use of such services has doubled in just the last year. "A typical movie downloader from file-sharing sites is 29 years of age and has 16 titles stored on their PC -- 63% are male and 37% are female," says the report.

The report notes that 40% believe downloading films is a very serious offense. When asked about stealing a DVD from a brick and mortar store, that number rises to 78%. It's a "Robin Hood effect," according to the study's director. People generally think the studios are rich enough, so they see theft as almost justifiable. "The current crop of 'download to own' movie services and the new ones coming into the market will need to offer greater flexibility of use, selection and low prices to convert the current users to their services -- otherwise file-sharing will continue to thrive," added Yigit.

In other words, the film industry has to compete with piracy by offering services that are well-stocked with titles, cheap and easy to use. So far that hasn't been the case, with studio-sanctioned services offering cumbersome DRM, significant platform restrictions and limited catalogs. Another recent study confirmed piracy has a significant edge over legit services when it comes to total users. The most popular pirated video content? Adult films.