Thirty-one per cent of people in the UK would be less likely to vote for a political party that supported internet disconnection for infringement of music copyright when online, according to a new poll.

YouGov conducted research on behalf of the Open Rights Group, a digital rights and civil liberties organisation, with results released earlier this week.

John Russell, the editor at DailyMusicGuide.com, explained that the results are hardly surprising, given the extent of the perceived problem in the UK.

He said: "There's a widespread culture of illegal filesharing in this country and there are countless people both inside and outside of the music industry who download music illegally because they think it's their entitlement."

Mr Russell added that while the practice may be illegal, the government's "long-standing tolerance or lethargy" towards it has seemingly made the issue acceptable for people to continue with.

Until then, he explained that parties should steer clear of the issue in manifestos as illegal music downloading is a prevalent practice across the UK.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent).