(Photo Courtesy of Christian Science Monitor taken by Tibor Krausz)
Attorney Clemence Gautier of Tilleke & Gibbins, a Bangkok-based international law firm specializing in intellectual property theft poses with some counterfeit goods. The law firm is trying to raise awareness about the wide array of counterfeits with its own museum in Bangkok.
The museum is called the Bangkok's Museum of Counterfeit Goods. It features over 1,500 items that range from knockoff chocolates to knockoff scooters. The law firm hopes that the museum which is incorporated into their office in Bangkok will serve to educate individuals about the dangers of piracy.
Gautier and her colleagues want consumers to know that by buying knockoffs, they are contributing to criminal gangs that use child labor, and use their profits from counterfeits to fuel drug rings, prostitution and a myriad of other crimes.
Since the recession has hit, the sales of counterfeit goods has increased steadily. It is likely to hit the trillion dollar mark by the end of this year and has been more profitable than the drug industry for a few years already.
The scary thing is how many items are knocked off. It ranges from toothpaste to sneakers. Sometimes these knockoffs can mean the difference between life and death. When individuals inadvertently buy knockoff drugs, they can suffer if those drugs are not what they seem.
Interpol has reported that profits from knockoffs support terrorist groups: "North African radical fundamentalist groups in Europe, al-Qaeda and Hizballah all derive income from counterfeiting," John Newton, an Interpol officer specializing in intellectual-property crime, told the London Times in 2005 when it came to light. "This crime has the potential to become the preferred source of funding for terrorists."
"Statistically, 1 out of every 10 products on sale is a fake," says David Lyman, the firm's American chairman.
This statistic is a global one. It is not a matter of just well established companies trying to save their profits, but it is a matter of consumer protection. When you protect the market from illicit knockoffs, you protect the consumer who may not necessarily be aware of that he/she are buying.
2 comments:
Gautier and her colleagues want consumers to know that by buying knockoffs, they are contributing to criminal gangs that use child labor
As apposed to buying the originals and contributing to corporations which use child labor?
In both cases its up to the govt. to regulated corporations and/or fight crime. A corporation job is to maximize profits and nothing else. Its up to govt. institutions to drive policy and justice. The notion an entity devised of legal contract and shareholders should demonstrate moral soundness is misplaced.
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