Los Angeles Times Reporting Sante Alley Merchants of Fake Arrested 12/1

"Councilwoman Wendy Gruel said whether shoppers are naive or knowingly seek out knockoffs, they should be aware that what they are doing is tantamount to stealing.

"If you said to someone, 'You are buying stolen goods,' I think they would think, 'I'm doing something wrong,' " Gruel said. "People think this is a victimless crime. But it's stealing. It impacts businesses and jobs and costs the city and the county."


I'm glad they cracked down, but I find this politician's comments rather narrow-minded. I agree that people need to be aware of the impact of counterfeit goods, but it costs EVERYONE, not just those in the city and the county. It drives up prices for everyone who buys authentic goods.
 
^^ Not to mention the connections to child labor, organized crime, and terrorism.

It's also worth noting that it's not just DVDs, CDs, and designer good are counterfeited. There are counterfeit medicines, beauty products, and car and airplane parts. People have been killed or made seriously ill by these fake products. Counterfeits can be extremely dangerous.
 
I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner or more often. That place is crawling with knockoffs and fake everything. They don't even try to hide it...if you walk down the street you'll have vendors accosting you with "hey, hey, you like Gucci?" and trying to trust sunglasses at you.
 
Santee Alley has horrible fakes. They are not even remotely believable. Really bad vinyl copies. I am sure the good fakes are hidden in back rooms or somewhere completely different.
 
There was a report on this a few years ago, where undercover reporters went to some of those shops. They do hide the "good" fakes in the back, and you gotta ask. Then they make sure you're not a cop or something.

They should keep working on Sante Alley, then continue on to a lot of shops in LA. I really hate seeing people in these shops being conned thinking they're getting an authentic item. :/

Sure, these people need to make a living somehow, but there are legal ways to obtain an income. Saying "it's gotta feed the family" is an overdone excuse that people use to get out of a lot of things.
 
there are still lots of sellers of fake bags, shoes, clothes and accessories. it is kinda depressing. even more depressing and frustrating when i see someone i know carrying and wearing fakes!