Feb
28
Counterfeit Crackdown
Posted by Keeley Vega at 1:49 pm under Copyright.
On Tuesday, NY police and city agents shut down “Counterfeit Triangle,” which includes Canal, Walker, Baxter, and Centre Streets. This area, like its Los Angeles counterpart Santee Alley, is known for selling counterfeit handbags, watches, sunglasses, perfumes, and more. According to the New York Times, consumers can score a Prada handbag for $40; a Patek Philippe watch and a Rolex for $80, and two pairs of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses for $18. Sales such as these have cost the city $1 billion in sales tax a year and led to money laundering and bloody turf wars, says Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
While there have been no arrests so far, a civil lawsuit was filed against the property owner and more than $1 million worth of counterfeit items were seized. “Through the civil suit, a temporary restraining order was imposed to keep the buildings shuttered until the owner can prove there is no more illegal activity. The owner must also pay a fine of $1,000 a day from the first official notice of illegal activity — in this case, in early January. The city will also ask the State Supreme Court to impose other fines, said Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor.”
It’s hard to say whether these efforts will really shut down the counterfeit market — I seriously doubt it. Sellers and buyers of counterfeit goods have hopped from streets to eBay to hidden stores-within-stores to exchange small amounts of money for fake designer items.
And in case there is any doubt, there is absolutely NO question that both sellers and buyers know the items are fake. In my pre-law school days I bought “Chanel” sunglasses, a live baby turtle, and a churro from the same vendor — not quite the business model of designer retailers like Saks and Nordstrom.
I don’t understand why anyone cares about counterfeit handbags. If you take away the $40 Prada option doesn’t mean any additional customers will shell out $1200 for the genuine article. For about 95% of the population the counterfeit is the only option.
Bloomberg’s claim of $1 billion in lost sales tax revenue is ambiguous. Was the revenue lost because the same people should have been buying handbags at Saks, which pays its taxes? As I’ve mentioned, that any of the counterfeit buyers would become real McCoy buyers is questionable. He could also have meant that the counterfeit retailers don’t pay sales tax for the items they sell. In that case, the crack down was really about taxes (or money laundering or bloody turf wars) not counterfeits. Either way, it doesn’t make much sense.
I definitely agree that the bust had nothing to do with counterfeits.
While considering copyright for fashion design, I’ve thought about whether counterfeits and knock-offs take away from or supplement the original market. The answer is certainly both, but I think it’s more about reputation and prestige than about money.
Ma’am, I’d like to take a look at your purse for just a moment.