Knockoff: The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods

by Tim Phillips

Book Overview

In this compelling account, Knockoff exposes the truth behind the fakes and uncovers the shocking consequences of dealing in counterfeit goods. Travelling across the globe, Tim Phillips shows that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0749443790
• ISBN13: 9780749443795
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Tim Phillips is on the beat!

People may think it is cute and trendy to have a counterfeit handbag and may believe they are getting back at big pharmacy by buying their meds on-line. Sadly the damage done by counterfeit product traffic only hurts the consumer. Product counterfeiting is not just for luxury items anymore but can be found in just about every type and grade of consumer good from razor blades to shampoo to peanut butter to mayonnaise. This traffic is just about as far as we can get from "fair trade." Often made by slave labor in developing countries, the knockoff business blocks economic development and only benefits criminals. Phillips has done some great work by investigating "markets" where pirated software sits next to Soviet rocket launchers. This book covers so many topics and products, it is a must read for anyone interested in crime, globalization, international affairs, business, manufacturing, politics, health, safety, economics and poverty.

A recommended pick for any serious business library.

Counterfeiting is one of the fastest growing - and most profitable - industries in the world, and hold a market worth over, $500 billion dollars. KNOCKOFF exposes the truth behind the fakes and charts the ramifications of counterfeit manufacture and trafficking, probing an illegal global industry that is slowly undermining world economics. Interviews with victims, investigators and people who sell counterfeits counter the common notion that fakes are acceptable, reveals the organized crime behind many fakes, and makes for a recommended pick for any serious business library.

A real solid exploration of the market in fake goods

When the voracious consumer society meets the international market in fake goods, the demand is massive, particularly since buyers covet brand image over quality or authenticity. That's the force behind the billion-dollar market in counterfeit designer goods, but it does not explain the demand for phony industrial goods. That market is based on price alone. The two markets combine to create a huge problem that author Tim Phillips examines at the global level. Phillips certainly has done his legwork, as this book - which is written in a journalistic style that could have been tighter - makes clear. He takes us to flea markets in Russia, warehouses in Manhattan, cottages in China, and the offices of police and regulators worldwide to show how pirated luxury consumer goods, software and industrial parts are bought and sold to suspecting and unsuspecting consumers worldwide. He provides names, places and details of the crimes. We find this informative treatment of a pervasive global problem both enlightening and disturbing, and recommend it to people in supply line logistics, branding, corporate intellectual property and law enforcement.

It's a powerful read

Some of the reviewers seem to have been expecting a text book or a guide to businesses about how they solve their problem, but the fact that this book does not take that approach is the best thing about it for me. There are already several books which try to do this, but the fight against counterfeiters (I have some limited experience of this in my job) is not that simple - so those books are either superficial or a set of boring checklists, tables and lawyer speak. This book would be far more interesting to most of us because it looks at the problem from the point of view of consumers, and pulls back the curtain to show what is really behind this 'victimless' crime. He doesn't just talk to the cops, he gets behind the scenes and some parts read like a thriller. I have given it to several of my friends to read, and their response is always 'Wow! I never knew!!'

Looking at a Furtive and Deadly Trade

Every week I get a few e-mails from unknown sources, offering me "Genuine Replica Rolex Watches!" It makes me wonder what a fake replica Rolex watch would be like. As often as I get such messages, it is clear indeed that there is a market for the fakes. It's just an exercise in vanity, I tell myself. No one really needs on the wrist a genuine Rolex that costs thousands of dollars, and those who try to fake it at cut rates are just showing the same vanity, only discounted. It's stupid, but harmless, I used to think. Then I read _Knockoff: The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods_ (Kogan Page) by business journalist Tim Phillips, and the fakes turn out not to be so superficial. "The next fakes you encounter might be the pills you are about to take for your heart condition, the brake pads the mechanic just fitted to your car, or the engine parts on the aeroplane you will be boarding this afternoon." They might also be helping finance the next terrorist outrage. It is a huge business, and each chapter here treats a different aspect of it. Phillips also has suggestions for stopping the problem, but don't get your hopes up. Counterfeits are, of course, nothing new; Phillips cites amphorae of cheap Gallic wine that got fake stoppers to make them look like quality Roman wine in 27 BCE. There are, however, several reasons that counterfeit products are booming now. Globalization has made superbrands fashionable the world over with the logos, of course, prominently on the outside. Globalization has also made for factories in distant lands to make such goods, and to make them on the cheap if they can get away with it, or make extra units during secret night shifts, units that are sold secretly. China has become the workshop of the world, and is responsible for around two-thirds of the different fakes circulating around the world. Copying well has been a tradition in China for centuries, and although there are laws against knockoffs, there is little opportunity to enforce them in a culture of corruption. Even if attitudes there were to change, there could be no crackdown; stopping counterfeiting would cause huge unemployment problems and ruin the national economy. The international counterfeit economy has boomed because criminal groups are investing in it, especially after 9/11 when international money transfer scrutiny was tightened. Another problem with modern counterfeiting is that fakes can be perfect. A digital version of an album or a movie is nothing more than a great big number, and computers are very good at copying great big numbers with perfect fidelity. Computers are also responsible for easy sales of counterfeits. eBay is an easy way to sell knockoffs globally, and legally, the eBay company isn't at risk, because not knowing that the goods are fake, it cannot be held responsible. It does have a policy against selling knockoffs, but it is such a good business model that counterfeiters can find other online trading platforms.