Chief marketing officers (CMOs) must learn how to better understand and use technology and finance, a panel of experts said.

Warner Brothers used the threat of filming The Hobbit movies elsewhere to gain changes to New Zealand's employment laws, it was reported tonight.

An email obtained under the Official Information Act showed the production company wanted "stability" to film the movies in New Zealand and was worried about "grey areas" of employment law, Radio New Zealand reported.

The prospect of Warner Bros movie The Hobbit going offshore would be a disaster for the New Zealand film industry but it could make some New Zealanders richer.

New Zealand's online predictions market, iPredict Ltd, has launched a stock forecasting whether the movie will be filmed in New Zealand or whether a substantial proportion of the scenes involving human actors will be filmed in another country.

iPredict trades stocks on future events with prices changing as people's view of the likelihood of the event changes.

About 71% of New Zealanders aged between 15 – 30 would stop downloading illegal content if their internet service provider warned them against it, a survey  has revealed.

This figure was up 1% on the same survey commissioned by NZFACT last year. The questions and structure of the survey remained the same, as did the research panel.

A copyright case between an Australian internet service provider and numerous US film studios could have far reaching effects on the New Zealand film, telecommunications and legal industries, law firm Lowndes Jordan says.

iiNet is currently defending allegations it encouraged and assisted its customers in breaching copyright laws by downloading music and films illegally.