According to a new study global file sharing is not slowing, despite court action against people who have downloaded music illegally from the Internet.

The same level of file sharing has been around the same for the past two years despite over 20,000 legal cases in 17 countries.

Could the music industry stop targeting those who trade thousands of tracks on BitTorrent and Limewire, and go after the smaller file sharers in future?

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) said it was "containing" the problem and more people were connecting to broadband.

The global music industry trade body said sales of legal downloads were worth more than $1bn (£570m) in 2005.

That is up from $380m (£215m) in 2004, with "significant further growth" predicted this year.

IFPI chairman John Kennedy said the industry was "winning the war but we haven't won the war" against piracy.