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July 27, 2005
A new low for counterfeiters...
While I'm very much opposed to various form of IP piracy and IP theft, this particular bit of counterfeiting is a new low. Here's a story from the WSJ (not sure how long the link will be live):
Mark Cohen, avid cyclist and top U.S. counterfeit fighter in China, has seen a lot of fakes. Fake car windshields, fake drugs, fake Rolex watches, fake Hollywood DVDs. He has seen Chinese companies masquerading, in toto, as American ones.
But what really got him were the knockoff "Livestrong" bracelets that started popping up on the streets here a few months ago. The Texas-based Lance Armstrong Foundation, named for the seven-time Tour de France winner, sells the popular yellow wristbands for $1 a pop to raise money for cancer research.
Slightly off-color versions now go for about half that price in Beijing, with nothing left over for charity. "That, for me, was a new low," says Mr. Cohen, who first saw the knockoffs at Wind Speed, the city's premier bike shop. "Everyone was impressed I had a real one."
That really, really sucks.
Blog by Dan at July 27, 2005 03:33 PM
Comments
Counterfeits started showing up here in the states not long after the real things were released. There are probably still several places in Austin where you can buy the fakes.
Posted by: Tanya the Happy Tester at July 27, 2005 04:37 PM