Should buyers of counterfeit goods face jail, fines if caught?
Everyone looks at counterfeit goods the same.
“God, ew, that’s despicable. Who would ever buy something like this? … (examining product, under breath) … Unless …”
It’s the same progression. “What am I, scum?” turns into “Actually, this isn’t so bad” which ends up as “Why did I ever pay for the real thing?” That’s how fake items suck you in, and that’s why knockoff products like shoes, purses and sunglasses form such a major market.
But while we know it’s illegal to sell counterfeit goods, what if it was against the law to buy them, too? One New York City councilwoman is trying to make that so.
Under the bill proposed this week by Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose Chinatown district is “ground zero” for counterfeiters, according to the New York Post, shoppers caught buying knockoff goods could be jailed or handed a $1,000 fine.
“It’s a very big problem,” Chin told the paper. “We don’t want to be known as the place to come to get counterfeit goods.”
Fair point, but while Chin admits to the Post the proposal sounds “draconian,” she may have a tough time selling her bill.
Piracy and counterfeiting has long been a thorn in the side of business, so much so that the International Chamber of Commerce blasted the G20 nations during last year’s summit for failing to do much about it. Within G20 countries, the group said, $125 billion is lost each year to fake products, putting 2.5 million legitimate jobs at risk.
Yet as ripped-off companies rightfully urge law enforcement to crack down on counterfeiters, should Joe Consumer face legal action if he’s caught buying knockoff goods? I suppose there’s little surface difference to buying bogus goods than there is to, say, buying narcotics. Both are illegal to import and sell, yet only one is truly enforced when it comes to the point of purchase.
And just look: consumers rich and poor don’t care at all about buying fake products. According to a report from the group Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting, 80 per cent of consumers spend on bootlegged or pirated goods without losing any sleep.
What do you think? Should Canadians be fined or even jailed if caught buying counterfeit goods – everything from street vendor products to mom-and-pop shop items to online sale products?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
*Follow Jason on Twitter here.
Posted by: well.... | May 2, 2021 12:09:00 AM
From the comments on here I find very little concern for the people that make these counterfeit goods....so all you go ahead and support the sweat shop/salve labour conditions that there people work in. In fact perhaps you should go over and work side by side with them.
Posted by: jus'thinkin' | May 5, 2021 2:20:50 AM
I have to assume that the theory behind this idea would be discouraging the purchase of pirated goods. With no buyers for the goods the producers would stop producing them. I think the justice system should get thier ideas straight. If this system would work, why would they not arrest every user of illicit drugs to discourage the drug lords from importing or producing them? Instead, they prefer letting them go in exchange for information on the seller, who in turn is not charged in return for thier supplier etc.
I think that our drug problem exceeds our pirating problem. I don't ever remember a case where a child died from using pirated products. If they want to pilot a project, I think they should test thier theories on drugs first. If we see favorable results, then we can graduate to other crimes.