ATHENS – Stealing Internet signals and streaming services and buying counterfeit goods on the streets and elsewhere is so common in Greece that most people admit doing it, adding to the country’s notorious reputation for intellectual property theft, primarily among the young.

Some 62 percent of Greeks 15-24 – an age bracket particularly savvy about use of computers, mobile phones and other devices – said in a survey by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) they steal signals or buy fake goods.

The findings, said Kathimerini, found that was far higher than the EU average of 37 percent among the young who deliberately buy counterfeit goods which are easy to obtain almost anywhere.

Even that, however, was far higher than the finding of just 14 percent who admitted doing so in the bloc before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and changed people’s buying habits radically.

Some 52 percent of the European youth surveyed had bought at least one counterfeit product online over the past year, intentionally or by accident, and 33 percent accessed illegal content online, the paper said.

Greece – at 25 percent compared to the EU average of 21 percent – had the highest rate among the 27 member states for pirated content with no reports of any major prosecutions for doing so.