Print 38 comment(s) - last by neogrin.. on Jul 26 at 12:17 PM

Images inside the fake Apple store  (Source: BirdAbroad Blog)
Counterfeiting remains a global problem that only seems to accelerate, despite higher enforcement

Companies continually try to fight counterfeit and pirated material, but often fall short of successfully making a difference in stopping this billion-dollar industry.  

Counterfeiters are willing to steal anything from cash and tech products to gas, oil and cigarettes that consumers are mistakenly purchasing under the misconception of receiving real products.

Investigators in China are looking into a counterfeit Apple store that closely mimics a legitimate Apple store in other parts of the world.  The store is located in Kunming and isn't identified as an authorized Apple retailer, and police investigators visited the store.  From blogger photos and on-site investigation, even the employees wore identical Apple employee t-shirts you'd see in any other Apple store.

Ironically, the demand for counterfeit goods could generate larger business revenue for Apple, if the company wants to promote legal products.  A real iPad 2 can be purchased for up to $499, and in other parts of China can reach almost $600 in price, with counterfeiters able to draw in shoppers by offering lower-cost products.  

Other tech companies have adjusted price scales depending how prevalent pirated and stolen property is in China and other parts of the world, while also creating anti-counterfeit investigation teams.

Although it would seem unbelievable, similar faked stores have opened to sell counterfeit clothing and other consumer goods -- both inside China's borders, and across the world, including into the United States.

Consumers often ignore counterfeiting as solely a corporate problem, but companies warn everyone plays a role.  When shoppers head into neighborhoods to purchase fake handbags or movies, they understand it's a faked product; however, consumers purchasing counterfeit goods are being deceived into thinking it's a legitimate product.

Anti-counterfeit efforts have greatly increased by US federal authorities and across the world -- and it's not just the Chinese government that has to face this growing problem.  Authorities have discovered counterfeit goods can be significantly more profitable than drugs, with higher profit value and lower risk of jail time when caught.

A recent counterfeit smuggling ring based in China was busted making more than 11 million fake cigarettes with an estimated street value of almost $5M.  These cigarettes were aimed for the UK market, but increasing tobacco tax in the United States also makes it a lucrative market for fake cigarettes.  

Furthermore, counterfeit issues also plague medical patients trying to purchase real medications that are brought in from Mexico, South America, and other parts of the world.  Another recent epidemic includes fake consumer electronics that lead to hardware failure and electrical fires.  US investigators are most worried about these types of products being sold over the Internet, brought into the country, and otherwise hitting the streets due to public safety issues.

Companies from multiple industries plan to battle counterfeit goods, and actively assist police and federal authorities, as billions of dollars are up for grabs by sometimes clever criminals.  These companies also are trying to launch education efforts to help consumers to pay attention to the products they purchase, and where these items are reportedly coming from.

Comments     Threshold


RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By akugami on 7/25/2011 7:15:51 PM , Rating: 5
Except you bought yours at the Humore Store.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By brshoemak on 7/25/2011 9:29:47 PM , Rating: 3
Except you bought yours at the Humore Store.
I trademarked anything with the word 'store' in it. Expect to be served papers tomorrow.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By jtemplin on 7/25/2011 9:37:17 PM , Rating: 2
Worst. Thread. Ever.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By DJ Brandon on 7/25/2011 10:11:53 PM , Rating: 2
Worst thread because your a fanboy? =)

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By damianrobertjones on 7/26/2011 3:53:59 AM , Rating: 2

By neogrin on 7/26/2011 12:17:38 PM , Rating: 2

...a Grammar Nazi?

By karlostomy on 7/25/2011 11:03:59 PM , Rating: 2
Best. Thread. Ever.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By priusone on 7/25/2011 9:53:18 PM , Rating: 2
I just trademarked a "magic wall", in which part of it 'magically' opens to allow persons or items through said wall.

Have fun getting into your store without one of these magical items. And don't go and cry 'prior art' and such. Haters.

By aharris02 on 7/26/2011 11:36:40 AM , Rating: 2
Actually you would have patented a "magic wall".

No matter how truly magical it is, you can't trademark a physical invention.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By Natch on 7/26/2011 8:16:51 AM , Rating: 2
I paid DOUBLE what you did for my sense of humor. Clearly mine is better.

Except you bought yours at the Humore Store.

.... and you're holding it wrong!!

The saddest part is that people have proven that Apple computers can now be built so much cheaper (as I'm sure is true for every other product built by Apple), but the fanboys don't care....they'd rather pay their top shelf prices, for mediocre quality equipment, just to keep their self assured smugness intact.

RE: Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Troll.
By Conner on 7/26/11, Rating: -1
By Boze on 7/26/2011 9:43:52 AM , Rating: 4
Okay, I'll bite this troll post...

The only time in the history of the company that Apple stock was $53 dollars a share was in late 2005.

Since 2005, it hasn't split one time. Let's assume you sold 4 shares, since its at $398 a share now and you paid $1500 for your MBA by your own admission. There's no way to know exactly how many shares you purchased, but let's go with 100 for a nice, easy to compute number. That's $5,300 worth of Apple stock. Nowadays you have a cool $39,800.

Around the same time in 2005, you could have bought, Inc. for around $8 a share. Which is now trading at $156 a share. On top of that, it had a 10:1 split on May 12, 2010.

662.5 shares for the $5300 you spent. Which is now 6625 shares. Which is $1,033,500.

Now the reason I know this is because [i]I[/i] bought 100 shares of, Inc. in 2005. So I don't have a million dollars. It was an $800 investment which is now valued at $156,000.

Sure beats my friends who spent their money on an Apple product instead of putting it into Baidu stock.

Feel that your trackpad is a mm too low? Don't bother getting it fixed at the store; buy a new laptop instead. You won't even have to [b]worry[/b] about holding it wrong.

P.S., I still have an Pentium III 600 mHz-based machine that's running Asterisk PBX and [b]not[/b] chugging along, actually doing something useful... and seriously good luck doing the same thing with a PowerPC-based Mac from the same period.


Am I smug? No, but judging by the above post, I think if I bought enough iPads, I might get used to it.

