Phuket Customs Deliver ' Crushing Blow' To Copyright Pirates

[MILT]

There is a win win in all of this. First, all these billion dollar companies make their products affordable for everyone and the pirate industry takes a hard hit and would eventually disappear. The billion dollar companies actually make more money by volume. Of course this would upset the status quo upper wealthy as they would no longer have items to show off their financial status.

[rotary]

Maybe fake goods help the real goods sell. Back in the late 80s I bought a fake Omega on Sukhumvit. I wore it several months and like the way it fit and the looks so well I went out and bought the real one just like it. In this case the fake sold me on the real one. Not normal I agree but it happens. On pirate software I have not messed with that in years.......its too expensive when you consider all the problems that go with it. Many of the software makers (not all but some.........most of the Apple software is less than half of Microsoft. I see Mountain Lion OS upgrades for $20 on the net) now have reasonable prices and OPEN OFFICE is a free download that pretty much takes the place of Microsoft Office.

Would anyone buy a fake be the kind of person that would buy the real thing..........very limited in my opinion.

Cracking down on $30 Rolexes does no good but I have to agree cracking down on a $300 fake Rolex might do some good because some people could really be fooled on that high quality fake. Most fakes in Thailand are easy to spot on any kind of product and they are not sold to people who think they are the real thing.

Edited December 14, 2012 by rotary

[robertson468]

Many moons ago I went on holiday to Kusadasi in Turkey and passing one of the clothes retail outlets was a life sized cardboard cut out of Mike Baldwin, the erstwhile clothing factory owner in Coronation Street. He was holding a big notice that said, "genuine fakes only". So the "fake market" is by no means restricted to Thailand, I suspect it is World Wide.

[p_brownstone]

Should have just cut the labels off the clothes and given them to poor folks...

Exactly!!

What is the point in destroying perfectly good clothing for heavens' sake?!

The Manufacturer / Distributor has already been punished by the confiscation of the fakes and will possibly face legal action, he is in no way punished by having the confiscated items destroyed - so why on earth can they not be distributed to the poor in Thailand.

Patrick

[brianP]

Do they really think that people will start buying the real ones now that the fake ones have been destroyed? Do they really think that they haven't already gone back into business? I understand trying to protect intellectual property but the vast majority of the people buying these items are people that would not buy the original anyways and going a little further will just find the fakes somewhere else. The only people they are hurting are the local vendors....

I think if the fake ones are no longer around and people want the products they will buy the real ones. It's good the Thai government did this. They need to do it all over Thailand.

I will admit, it's at least possible to find the originals nowadays. When I first came to Thailand, you literally couldn't find original copies of Windows or Office for sale to the public, so things have improved. Although I don't remember seeing a legit copy of Photoshop here - maybe I haven't looked hard enough.

It's still easier to find illegal copies of the software though.

I never buy any pirated software,it cheats the very people who are creating and marketing these amazing new programs and they actually work and you can go on the net and not be hassled. etc.

[brianP]

Majority of that crap has a" 2 part guarantee", it breaks in 2 parts they guarantee you keep both. Pure rubbish that pisses the owners of the real overpriced snobbish bullshit.

[Payboy]

Phuket Customs deliver 'crushing blow' to copyright pirates

Someone's been spending to much time playing World of Warcraft.

[RogueLeader]

I'm glad I went to Thailand while it was still fun.

ps: Anyone remember the carefully staged poppy field burnings in Afghanistan in the 1980s? This has a familiar ring to it.

[Semper]

[easton]

The US keeps pressuring Thailand and other countries to crack down on these pirated goods so they put on a little show every now and then.

[RogueLeader]

There is a win win in all of this. First, all these billion dollar companies make their products affordable for everyone and the pirate industry takes a hard hit and would eventually disappear. The billion dollar companies actually make more money by volume. Of course this would upset the status quo upper wealthy as they would no longer have items to show off their financial status.

No, that won't happen. Fake designer goods are ordinary goods with negative price-demand elasticity. Luxury brand goods are Veblen goods whose p-d elasticity, like that of diamonds, cocaine and kobe beef, is positive. The companies selling them know that if enough copies are circulated, the air of 'exclusivity' that the originals confer upon their retarded, conspicuously-consuming customers will disappear and their value will sink to virtually nil.

Edited December 17, 2012 by RogueLeader

[dudeinthailand]

Do they really think that people will start buying the real ones now that the fake ones have been destroyed? Do they really think that they haven't already gone back into business? I understand trying to protect intellectual property but the vast majority of the people buying these items are people that would not buy the original anyways and going a little further will just find the fakes somewhere else. The only people they are hurting are the local vendors....

I think if the fake ones are no longer around and people want the products they will buy the real ones. It's good the Thai government did this. They need to do it all over Thailand.

Do you really think they will start buying the real bags at a cost of 30,000 baht if the knock-offs are not available...you idea reality is very skewed if that is what you truly believe...the reason knock-offs are popular is not the quality of the bag, it is because they are CHEAP!