Given the range of content available to internet users at effectively zero cost compared with those available to purchase through established social networks, a rational, economic decision would be primarily to use the internet to obtain counterfeit digital goods. However, our data shows this is not the case, suggesting that purely economic approaches to the purchase of counterfeit goods have limited value in explaining consumption patterns. Further, accessing illegal content via the internet offers an element of anonymity to users. While users can be contacted using the social networking features built in to some P2P software xiii and identified through their.
