Some Lawmakers Want Buying Knock Offs To Be Illegal

By Cornelius Nunev


Homeland Security and anti-counterfeiting groups are cracking down on bogus goods that steal the hard-won good will of genuine band names. But for the very first time these crusaders decided to focus on the consumer. If they have their way, customers who knowingly buy phony goods could face fees or even prison time.

A ton of cash in the sector

It is unlawful to sell knock-off bogus merchandise, and the industry has grown to be a $650 billion a year sector, according to Daily Finance. A lot of rogue websites are appearing that sell face Rolex, Gucci and Prada.

Fight against it

The websites are not simple to trace and pop up all over the place. Every time one is closed down, another pops up. Kristina Montanaro of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition explained that trying to stop the sites is just like playing "Whac-a-Mole" because the sites disappear and show up over and over. They look just like the real deal too.

Montanaro explained that there are many ways people are attempting to stop the counterfeiters from working, including blocking them from running charge cards. This is done through credit card issuers and processors, according to Montanaro in her seminar called "Beyond Whac-a-Mole: Brand new Initiatives in Intellectual Property Enforcement.

Homeland Security

According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, nation's flea markets have been raided a lot recently leading to millions of dollars in merchandise being taken. About 70 percent of all merchandise that claimed to be name brand was not real in these areas. The raids have found a ton of knock-offs being sold.

Telling the public about this

A website called DesignsFauxReal.com was just launched by the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition to be able to help consumers understand how bad it is to purchase fake brand-name things like this. Slogans such as "The timeless gift of charge card fraud," and "Free identity theft with every purchase" are put on the website that looks like a rogue site itself.

An enormous risk is being taken when a consumer buys from the online websites, according to Montanaro:

"A lot of people don't realize, you're handing your card information over to hardened criminals, so you're at the risk of identity theft."

A criminal offense

Many people in the United States hope to see laws against buying bogus merchandise. It is against the law to do in Italy and France already. Getting it in New York City might be punishable in fees up to $1,000 and a year in prison soon too because of legislation proposed by City Councilwomen Margaret Chin.

According to Chin:

"The bottom line is counterfeiters have to sell to do their job, and we need a law in place that punishes buyers for supporting this illegal trade."

The New York City bill may be just the start in the States. Other state will probably follow suit.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment