There is a large body of literature examining the role of communication technologies in the shaping of contemporary society. One area that has not been sufficiently considered in the literature is the influence of technology on the organization and experience of leisure. Historically, there has always been a relationship between technology and leisure, but the increasing use of the Internet and computer gaming technology during leisure time is facilitating a transformation in contemporary leisure activity and has relevance for themes in both leisure and Internet research. This article presents a brief examination of the historical relationship between technology and leisure, before examining the implications of technological change for themes in leisure and Internet research. Examined with reference to computer technology and the use of the Internet are (a) activity, place, and meaning; (b) leisure freedom and constraint; (c) deviant leisure; and (d) leisure and health.
A B S T R AC TSocial science, policy and popular discourse around counterfeiting regularly position consumers of counterfeit goods as part of a technological elite or as motivated by anti-capitalist or anti-corporate positions. In order to explore this construction and highlight its associated limitations, this article presents quantitative data collected through postal and web-based questionnaires looking at the frequency, location and motivations for the purchase of counterfeit leisure items for consumers in the United Kingdom. The article suggests that the purchase and consumption of counterfeit goods is commonplace across a broader variety of age, gender and socio-economic status categories than often assumed. The study also highlights the value of viewing the consumption of counterfeit goods as social and situated, occurring within existing social networks and familiar locations, and as closely related to other consumption practices.
K E Y WO R D Sconsumers / counterfeit goods / intellectual property / leisure goods / software piracy Introduction C ounterfeit goods are those which illegally imitate, copy or duplicate a good or use a registered trademark without authorization and, therefore, infringe upon the legal right to copy of the right's owner. In many working definitions of a counterfeit -especially in relation to currency or pharmaceuticals -the issue of intent to defraud is added but for most cases this 1146 Sociology
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.