Yep, that’s right the FBI are on our side or at least they are in the USA.

According to the web site www.theverge.com the Feds are going to crack down on counterfeiting.

The FBI announced on Friday that it was launching a new strategy in collaboration with the Department of Justice, working with third-party marketplaces — such as eBay and Amazon — to enforce intellectual property laws by giving them analytical tools to work out when people might be selling fake goods…………

Loretta Lynch, the Department of Justice’s attorney general, detailed the new strategy in a press release, saying that the digital age has “revolutionized how we share information, store data, make purchases and develop products.” Lynch said that strengthening defenses against cybercrime was one of her top priorities as DoJ attorney general, referencing high-profile hacking cases such as last year’s Sony and Target attacks to demonstrate the “seriousness of the threat all business[es] face” for “sophisticated adversaries to inflict real and lasting harm.”
THE STRATEGY IS FOCUSED ON PEOPLE SELLING FAKE ITEMS THROUGH THIRD-PARTY STORES
Rich McMormick October 5th 2015

On the surface, seems like good news. But aren’t these the very same guys who didn’t do so well in the prohibition era. Yes, they arrested a lot, shot a lot, and smashed loads of bottles but it still carried on. So without all the shooting (or maybe not?) what makes them think they are going to be any more successful. Of course, they have got some major bits of technology. But so have the baddies.

In my opinion, it is political rhetoric. They make some arrests, there maybe some prosecutions, and the best scenario would be a short period where the major offenders will have to regroup. But regroup they will.

So who are our Feds? For counterfeiting it is the National Crime Agency, or posh bobbies and on a more day to day level your local trading standard officer. I can’t see dawn raids on dodgy party shops (if such a thing exists) or the premises of dodgy on line operators( there maybe the odd one) . Our industry is just not big enough to justify the resources. Even in an industry where the stakes are higher eg fashion, or jewellery they would only scrape the surface.

This is not to say we should demean any effort to clamp down on counterfeiting but realistically the only policing will have to be done by us. So when some some sharp suited salesman or woman comes into your office , offering you ‘……a bit of gear that you just gotta ‘ave, at a price you ain’t gointa believe mate….’ Tell them   ‘no thank you very much, did you know  there are teams of special forces out there looking for you…’. That will stop them in their tracks.

Anyway, if the guys in stab jackets and glock pistols do come visiting ask them if they have rung the front door bell of EBay. Having done a bit of research on eBay looking for counterfeits, looking at items such as frozen costumes, I receive an email 2 days later. Usual stuff …as you have been looking at frozen costumes, perhaps the following will be of interest….and guess what it was highlighting ..Chinese knock offs, from Chinese sites …