When the music industry decided to target individual music uploaders last year with lawsuits, many ridiculed the idea. 
  It seemed the very definition of an 800-pound gorilla stomping on a 40-pound monkey--a PR disaster in the making for the Recording Industry Association of America and likely a futile gesture. Few thought the threats would scare anyone.
  Boy, were they wrong.
  Downloaders did not respond so much to the threats but they dramatically changed their behavior when suits were actually filed in the fall.
  It appears illicit music downloading has been chopped at least in half, according to a new report.
  Though there have been scattered reports of down traffic to peer-to-peer sites, this is one of the first reports to compare actual rather than anecdotal numbers from spring to fall.
   The study released yesterday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and comScore’s Media Metrix finds that just 14 percent of those surveyed from Nov. 18 to Dec. 14 downloaded music. 
  That’s less than half of the 29 percent who reported doing so in a similar survey last May.
   Then about 4 percent of users said they downloaded music on an average day. That dipped to 1 percent this fall.
  The percent who reported sharing music, video games, movies or picture files on peer-to-peer networks was 20 percent, compared to 28 percent last spring.
   The study did not distinguish between free and legitimate download sites, but the one taking the biggest hit is probably Kazaa.
  Early last year, Kazaa peaked at nearly 10 million users per week. During November use of the site was down 15 percent from November 2002. Traffic to Grokster dipped 59 percent and traffic to WinMX dropped 25 percent, though both had much smaller audiences to start than Kazaa.
   The biggest dips in downloading from spring to fall were among adults 18-29, broadband users and students. Women downloaders and parents with children living at home, probably trying to set a better example, both decreased 58 percent.
   The RIAA has filed 382 lawsuits so far, settling many of them for $2,500 to $10,000 fines before they go to court. In three waves of suits filed in September, October and December, the group seeks compensation from uploaders who have distributed 1,000 or more copyrighted music files for free on various internet sites.