The number of people downloading music illegally surged a month after recording companies began suing hundreds of music fans, a marketing research firm said Thursday.

The number of U.S. households downloading music from peer-to-peer networks rose 6 percent in October and 7 percent in November after a six-month decline, according to a study of computer use in 10,000 U.S. households conducted by The NPD Group.

I have some anecdotal evidence of my own to share. I've been discussing these issues in my intellectual property class over the course of the last week or two. Of course, law students are hardly a representative sample, but if I had to characterize the class sentitment, I would put it like this: It is socially unacceptable to take the position that unlawful P2P filesharing is morally wrong.