African Agony

Africa has long been plagued by poverty, war, disease and famine. While perhaps not up to that high standard of pox, counterfeiting has also tormented the continent, causing economic loss and hardship for many. Counterfeiting persists even though the margins for counterfeit goods in Africa are quite a bit lower than in the West. This post by the blog Africans in China details counterfeiting problems endemic in Africa, including for such products as Kiwi Shoe Polish and Nice Tooth Brushes.

Fake Watches Are For Fake People

The title says it all, but the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry have started a new initiative to combat the scourge of fake watches.

Tips for Techies

From Channel Insider, five tips to avoid counterfeit IT goods. Essentially, the tips cultivate common sense. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And given that counterfeit IT goods are more likely to malfunction without recourse to the manufacturer, the best bet is always buy real.

realdanger.co.uk | The real danger of counterfeit medicines

Pfizer is sponsoring a new ad campaign to illustrate the dangers of counterfeit medication. The danger jauntily illustrated here - pills made of rat poison. Yum.

realdanger.co.uk | The real danger of counterfeit medicines

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Food for Thought

Examples of counterfeit goods abound, as readers of this blog will note. Now, counterfeiters have set their sites on another target: food. As this article by Katye Martens in the USA Today demonstrates, it is often easy for a food supplier to dilute or lie about a food's content. Examples include using farm-raised salmon as a cheaper substitute for wild salmon, dilution of olive oil with soybean oil or other kinds of oil, and using cane sugar as a substitute for honey.

It's fraud, plain and simple. Fortunately, law enforcement resources are somewhat more abundant in this area, as laws against fake "adulterated" food are enforced by the stern folks at the Food and Drug Administration. Nevertheless, adulteration of food is a serious problem. Read the whole thing.


UPDATE: Environmental Blogger Verda Vido expands on the USA Today article here. She cites the U.S. Food and Drug Administration resources to help determine whether the fish you buy is fake, which can be found here and here. She also provides other helpful links to help determine the purity of honey (very useful) as well as certified suppliers for olive oil, maple syrup and honey. And last but not least, she links to an authentic homebrew recipie for the otherwise frequently faked vanilla extract. Good stuff. Check it out if you get the chance.

Truth in Numbers

Numbers are often a matter of interpretation. An increase in crime statistics, for example, might actually be good news if the statistics reflect increased enforcement and not increased criminal activity. Whether yesterday's released numbers on counterfeit seizures in the United States reflect better enforcement or a worsening counterfeit flood will require some digging, but the volume is staggering and a bit grim. According to the Associated Press, the United States Government seized over $270 million in counterfeit and pirated goods in 2008. These numbers represent a staggering 38% increase over 2007 numbers. Richard Rocha, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and apparently an optimist, credited improved law enforcement collaboration for the increase in counterfeit seizures.

Shattered

Some sad news earlier this week for lovers of fine china: Waterford Wedgwood - the makers of luxury crystal and glassware products - has filed for bankruptcy protection. Citing the current economic climate and credit crunch as the reasons for taking this action, Waterford Wedgwood has taken vowed to continue operations while seeking a buyer. No doubt, the company's 7,700 employees worldwide cannot feel too comfortable with this vow in a climate like the present.

Like many companies going out of business, Waterford Wedgwood has been the target of counterfeiters who could foist fake glass and crystal to the public. In good times, counterfeiters are an expensive nuisance to companies like Waterford Wedgwood. Not only do counterfeiters cost companies sales, but companies also must enforce their brand by hiring investigators and lawyers to go after the counterfeiters. These actions can typically cost a company like Waterford Wedgwood tens of thousands of dollars each year. And if companies don't spend this money, counterfeiters can then counterfeit with impunity, decreasing profit margins even more. In the current economy, careers can be as fragile as crystal. For Waterford Wedgwood's employees, the nudge from counterfeiters could leave their jobs and lives shattered.

New Jersey: Where the Rubber Did Not Meet the Road

And a fortunate thing, that. Via MyCentralJersey.com, news that police are seeking an Edison man caught with 600,000 fake condoms. While not identifying the brand of condom, a police spokesman confirmed that the condoms were "substandard."

Eternal Vigilance

Andrew Jackson, the American President whose long face adorns the twenty dollar bill, once remarked that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. In these hard times, CBS News reports that counterfeits are pervasive, hard to spot and dangerous. Consumers and businesses alike without much disposable cash can be tempted to look the other way for a good price on an item of questionable origin. Given the dangers of counterfeits cited by the article, eternal vigilance might also be the price of safety and peace of mind.

Stopping Traffic

It's the old story - attract the attention of a state trooper for a minor traffic infraction, only to be discovered couriering around over 600 counterfeit handbags worth over $100,000. Well, except for the handbags part, but still, contraband is contraband, and two Chinese nationals are in hot water over their indiscretion. Apparently, police dogs sniffed out the rogue bags. Who knew counterfeit handbags had their own smell? Or that police dogs were so smart?

Risking It All for Lust

Viagra has changed the lives of millions of men. What factors such as age, diet and stress have contributed to Erectile Dysfunction can be successfully combated with application of the little blue pill. But such advances in pharmacological technology are expensive, and those costs are passed down to the consumer in the form of high prices. So despite knowing little to nothing about many of the internet vendors dealing "discount" prescription drugs, many men have attempted to purchase Viagra online.

Now the BBC has published a piece illustrating the extreme danger these online hunters at the intersection of lustful and miserly face. And it's not just Viagra. Drugs for the treatment of conditions ranging from cancer to heart disease proliferate online, despite that 90% of all prescription drugs sold online are fake. These counterfeit medicines are often enough made up of materials such as "talcum powder, or even rat poison." The problem is worse in Third World countries, where counterfeits used to fight conditions such as malaria have killed scores of vulnerable people. But in the rich United Kingdom, many men have bypassed legitimate channels to purchase drugs. Aside from a 90% chance of having just thrown their money away, these men face a real risk to their health.

Ticket to Nowhere

My Authentics does not normally focus on counterfeit tickets, but ticket search engine Ninja Tickets has issued a press release guide to sleuthing out counterfeit tickets to sporting events. It contains some useful tips and is certainly somewhat related to our own topical sweet spot. So if you're in the market for some resold tickets, please read this guide before wasting your hard-earned money on fake tickets.

Presents Roasting on an Open Fire

Classic crooner Nat King Cole would not approve of this Christmas fire hazard: Counterfeit Christmas Lights Pose a Shocking Hazard. I can think of few things more detrimental to Christmas cheer than an electrical fire burning down the Christmas tree.

Terror in a Bottle

From The Independent in Britain, millions of British citizens could potentially be at risk from counterfeit medication. From high blood pressure and anti-cancer medications to Viagra, the problem is serious. With the World Health Organization estimating that 1% of all medications worldwide are counterfeit, seven million prescriptions in Britain per year could be counterfeit.

The counterfeit medicine problem is complicated by several factors: first, medicines are frequently packaged and repackaged and sold and resold in Europe. This sheer complexity of the supply chain can make enforcement difficult. And diagnosis of counterfeit medications can also be difficult. Was it a fake pill that caused a "natural death" in a sick patient? Current medical procedures do not test the medication, meaning that plenty of dangerous pills could be ingested

And one other thing to worry about: terrorists. Intentional adulteration and sabotage of medicine is possible. With detection difficult and danger high, poisoning drugs could be low-hanging fruit for evil doers.

Cannes Fake Festival

Or rather, an anti-fake festival. From DFNI Online, news from Cannes that the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) played host to the signing of the Declaration of Cannes. According to this article, the Declaration of Cannes is an agreement between nine countries that will help fight the global $700 billion counterfeit luxury goods industry.

Up in Smoke

Counterfeit cigarettes seized in a raid in Felixstowe (UK). The cigarettes were hidden in a consignment of fireworks.

Paying the Piper

We recently commented on a Japanese poll showing a majority of Japanese citizens condoning the purchase of counterfeit goods. Anecdotally, we have further evidence of this worldwide trend in the American Presidential race.

The Authentics Foundation will studiously avoid the appearance of favoritism or partisanship during this American presidential election season. Counterfeiting is, after all, a problem that transcends party loyalties, and we are hopeful that both major tickets would use the levers of American Federal Government power to fight counterfeiting. But given that, we would be remiss if we did not comment on this recent photo of Sarah Palin's daughter Piper carrying a fake Louis Vuitton bag.

We do not know, of course, who purchased the bag or if the Palins were aware that Piper's handbag was counterfeit. And even so, a huge swath of Americans do not realize how profits from counterfeit goods can fund some truly undesirable activities such as child labor or criminal enterprises. The Palins also have a lot on their minds these days. Nevertheless, that the daughter of a Vice Presidential candidate can casually tote a fake handbag through a minefield of media and image handlers illustrates how deeply ingrained the consumption of counterfeit goods is, even in faraway Alaska. Highly discouraging stuff.

Fried Apples

I use a MacBook Pro to manage this blog, and it is possibly my most cherished possession. When I read stories like this showing fake power adapters that could possibly fry the motherboard of my baby, my blood runs cold. I suspect most other Mac owners would react similarly. Given the stakes, how anyone could take a chance on a "cheaper" adapter is mystifying.

Japanese Dissonance

Discouraging news from Japan, where a poll found that 52% of the people surveyed condoned the purchase of counterfeit goods. Even more discouraging is that the Japanese government has been attempting to raise the public's awareness concerning the dangers and drawbacks of counterfeit goods, and that the number of Japanese condoning counterfeiting has risen despite this campaign.

That these attitudes occur in Japan is even more disheartening. Japan is resource poor but highly educated and wealthy in large part from its innovations and intellectual property.

Smoking Dragon, Royal Charm, and the PRO-IP Act

What do you get when you combine four FBI Agents, 62 Chinese smugglers, and a billion counterfeit cigarettes? Besides the plot of a Hollywood potboiler, you get the tale of an intricate counterfeit cigarette bust that spanned several continents, a slew of agents, six years, 1,000 meetings, and enough fake smokes to supply every American man, woman and child with more than a few carcinogenic puffs.

Writing for the Center for Public Integrity, Te-Ping Chen brings her readers into the murky world of counterfeit cigarettes. Through bribery and sheer volume, Chinese cigarette counterfeiters overwhelm the inspection infrastructure in China and the United States. The numbers are startling. A shipping container of one million counterfeit cigarettes can cost about $120,000 to make, but can sell for as much as $2 million in the United States. A bribe of $20,000 can ensure safe passage out of China, and then it becomes a game of chance stacked in favor of the counterfeiter. Cargo containers are only inspected 22% of the time on average in the United States. While seizures are considered a cost of doing business for these smugglers, a run of bad luck seizures tempted the counterfeiters in the story to attempt to purchase protection from the Italian Mafia. Unfortunately for the villains, the Mafia fixers turned out to be FBI agents.

Te-Ping Chen does an excellent job of detailing the intricate nature of the smuggling world. Through the well-worn trade paths of cigarettes also comes counterfeit money, fake pharmaceuticals, and weapons. Notorious bad actors like the North Korean government profit greatly from the criminality. No doubt, a weapon of mass destruction could conceivably slip through safeguards using these same trade routes.

And what does this have to do with PRO-IP Act? Plenty, in fact. The PRO-IP Act goes to the root of the counterfeiting problem by increasing the price of doing business in counterfeits. Doubling the fines per counterfeit violation is a good start. Increasing diplomatic resources will also help, as it could enhance cooperation with law enforcement at the point of origin. And with counterfeit cigarettes often unhealthier than the real thing, criminal penalties for selling counterfeit items that do bodily harm could possibly ensure long jail sentences for the counterfeiters of cigarettes and other types of potentially harmful contraband.

This is an excellent article - entertaining, informative and even poignant in parts. Towards the end of the tale, two of the counterfeiters at the center of the investigation presented their undercover FBI Agent with two Rolexes as a wedding present for the mock gangster. "These aren't counterfeit, are they?" asked the agent. "No," replied the suspect, "these are the real deal."

You'll think Goodfellas, and you won't be far off - or disappointed. Read the whole thing.