The Far Reaching effect of Buying Fakes

The concern over counterfeit or fake products is growing.  Here is a list of articles that discuss the situation.  Plans are to regularly add to this list. 
                                                                              Please make suggestions of additional links.

• Fake Nework Gear -- "Counterfeit gear has become a big problem that could put networks - and health and safety - at risk. "Nobody wants to say they've got counterfeit gear inside their enterprises that can all of a sudden stop working. But it's all over the place, just like pirated software is everywhere," says Sharon Mills, director of IT procurement organization Caucus...."   article written by Deb Radcliff, Network World, 10/23/2006 Read this article

• China accounts for 60% of the EU’s fake goods -- "The European Commission has released a report which found that in 2007 EU customs registered more than 43,000 cases of fake goods seized at the EU’s external border, compared to 37,000 in 2006. Although China remained the main source of counterfeit goods in general, accounting for almost 60 percent of seizures,"  The European Weekly, 07/24/2008   Read this article

• Authentic and Fake Italian Food Products in the World -- If we observe the provenance or origin of the food products seized, it can be seen that the countries most involved are Turkey, China and Thailand, which correspond in substance with the provenance of counterfeit products in general....  Read this article

• A Toxic Pipeline -- Stories in this Pulitzer Prize-winning series have examined how dangerous and poisonous pharmaceutical ingredients from China have flowed into the global market. Reporting on four continents, Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker traced the illicit ingredients through traders and middlemen that formed a supply chain stretching from small factories in rural China to consumers around the world. The stories detailed the devastating, sometime deadly, human cost of this toxic pipeline.... New York Times, 7/24/2008  Read this article

• FBI probe nets counterfeit Chinese networking parts -- The criminal probe, code-named Operation Cisco Raider, was prompted by concerns that counterfeit network components could give hackers access to government databases. But one U.S. official told Reuters that the components discovered by the FBI are not believed to have made government computer systems more vulnerable... cnet news, 05/10/08  Read this article

• Samsung: Fighting Fake Chinese Phone Named Samsong  --  In cooperation with Beijing's Haidian and Fengtai Industry and Commerce Departments, South Korean mobile phone manufacture Samsung has identified 88 types of fake Samsung mobile phones in Beijing.... China Tech News, 11/05/2007  Read this article

• Made in China, a security risk? -- Recent reports of counterfeit computer hardware from China have once again sparked the discussion on whether we should worry about security risks resulting from using this hardware. Obviously I am referring to counterfeit hardware such as corporate switches and routers from respectable manufacturers such as 3com and Cisco. These are commonly used by network providers, corporations and of course governments. Apparently copies of these products have shown up that are indistinguishable from the real thing, but are not manufactured by the original manufacturer.  article written by Sander Sassen, Hardware Analysis, 04/03/08 
  Read this article

• IP Symposium: A counterfeiting crisis should spur start-ups -- Electronics counterfeiting has hit an epidemic level. At the IP Symposium in San Jose this week, the scope of the problem was laid bare. Surely, there have to be opportunities for start-ups in fighting this problem.  Here are some factoids from the panel which included Tom Valliere, a consultant at Design Chain Associates, Daryl Hatano, vice president of public policy of the Semiconductor Industry Association, and Debra Eggeman, general manager of the Independent Distributors of Electronics Association...  Venture Beat,  04/14/2008  Read this article   

• Counterfeiting has become the crime of the 21st century -- Roughly two-thirds of these fakes—including copies of such coveted brands as Cartier, Dior, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and Van Cleef & Arpels—are produced in China, making it the counterfeit capital of the world. LUXURY REPORT Read this article