If you have downloaded movies or music from the internet using BitTorrent, it is likely your computer details have been collected.

For those who do not use it, BitTorrent is a quick way of downloading files from a number of sources at one time.

Millions of people around the world use it to get the latest popular films or songs for free, but downloading copyrighted content is illegal, and research shows monitoring groups are watching.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have identified security firms and copyright-enforcement organisations among 10 different monitoring firms collecting the details of people using BitTorrent.

Neil Gane, the managing director of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), which represents the film and television industry, says within hours, monitoring firms record the details of users who download popular content.

"They are independent entities that the entertainment industry could engage and utilise their resources and their software should they wish to pursue this issue in a court or purely to obtain information," he said.

John Lindsay, chief technology officer of iiNet, says copyright owners can request from internet service providers the details of people who have been illegally downloading.

"That has been done quite widely in places like the United States," he said.

"We haven't see it done so significantly in Australia to date, but there's no particular reason why rights holders couldn't do that in Australia right now."

Legal status

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Jon Lawrence from Electronic Frontiers Australia, an internet users organisation, says rather than policing, more effort should be put into making content legal.

"We think these organisations... should be focusing more on their business models and making content available to people on a legal basis so that they can then choose not to use BitTorrent to get it," he said.

But Mr Gane says that is already happening.

"They are making a lot more content available across legal services. There are now more than 20 legal services available to Australian consumers," he said.

Mr Lindsay says commercial broadcasters are yet to figure out how to beat illegal downloaders.

"Free-to-air TV in Australia is going to have to adapt because the willingness of consumers to wait around until somebody says, 'oh yes, now you can watch it', feels a little bit too much like being treated as if you're a child," he said.