It's little wonder: "Nationwide, handbags and wallets comprised the greatest number of counterfeit items seized by CBP last year, with the value of seizures up 142 percent compared to 2011. Of the approximately $511 million in handbags and wallets seized, more than $446 million came from China."
"From knockoffs of designer Kate Spade handbags to pirated DVDs, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups increasingly are turning to counterfeit goods to fund their operations, lawmakers were told Wednesday."
COUNTERFEIT GOODS
Counterfeit goods may have a reputation for poor design, unsafe parts and toxic elements, but consumers dont seem to mind.
No country has been associated with dangerous knockoffs more often than China. According to US Customs & Border Protection data, more than 75 percent of counterfeit goods seized between 2004 and 2009 were manufactured there. Apparently, people love a bargain, and they dont mind taking a risk to get one.
Despite the risks, its easy to see why counterfeit goods are appealing. The customer gets what looks like a Louis Vuitton handbag for $50 instead of $2500, and if anything shady happened on its way from the factory to the hawkers table, the buyer usually doesnt know about it. This allows most people to assume that counterfeiting is a victimless crime. The truth, however, is a different story.
You might want to print this off and give it to your friend the next time you meet:
"Illegal Products and Illegal Labor
A counterfeit product is often created in a sweatshop, in violation of child labor laws, anti-sweatshop laws and basic human rights. Dana Thomas, described the conditions she witnessed in sweatshops in her 2007 book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.
"I remember walking into an assembly plant in Thailand a couple of years ago and seeing six or seven little children, all under 10 years old, sitting on the floor assembling counterfeit leather handbags.
The owners had broken the children's legs and tied the lower leg to the thigh so the bones wouldn't mend. [They] did it because the children said they wanted to go outside and play. "
"According to the International Trademark Associations Alan Drewsen,
this type of exploitation of minors is par for the course at counterfeit clothing factories. "There are issues of child labor in a lot of these plants around the world," he told the New York Daily News.
Shoppers Beware
Its not only the labor force that is exposed to unsafe conditions. On Counterfeit Alley, a strip of Broadway south of 34th Street in Manhattan, a sidewalk bazaar operates thats thick with vendors selling scarves, DVDs and NFL T-shirts. But the real action is in the office buildings lining the street. Inside, makeshift boutiques have been set up selling counterfeit clothing, jewelry, compact discs and more.
It is common for the shoppers to be locked into these showrooms until they make a purchase. According to John Feinblatt, New York Citys criminal justice coordinator, this is not just a consumer protection issue, but also a public safety issue. These buildings violate every code in the book, the exit signs are obliterated, or the fire exits are locked or blocked by boxes of merchandise. Theyre firetraps," he told the New York Times.
The shoppers in these buildings know that theyre getting bogus goods, but many people who purchase counterfeit products do so unknowingly. According to Susan Scafidi, a Fordham University law professor, the Internet has made the sale of counterfeit goods more widespread than ever, as consumers using this retail channel cant verify the authenticity of the product theyre buying."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38229835#.
