The NPD Group's latest research confirms research from other sources that P2P is not the top offender in unauthorized downloading. The finding questions the record industry's war against its fans, especially on college campuses.

NPD announced "The 'social' ripping and burning of CDs among friends -- which takes place offline and almost entirely out of reach of industry policing efforts -- accounted for 37 percent of all music consumption, more than file-sharing."

The research showed that offline sharing is increasing with the proliferation of portable and writable media, from CDs and DVDs to PC card, USB, and external hard drives. P2P is just a small part of the technology explosion.