The Counterfeit Economy

Sharing music files has somewhat, become a norm in today's society. Going onto websites such as kickasstorrents, or one channel, give people the opportunity to download music, movies, and much more at the click of a button. Many commodities around the world get copied and distributed without the recognition of the original supplier of those products. When I think about my trips to China and Florence, I remember markets filled with the latest copy of handbags ranging from Channel, Coach and Burberry. You could purchase designer wallets, perfumes or pens. Anything you wanted it was there, supplied in mass quantities from all the designer labels.  Even though I believe that all designer products are ridiculously overpriced and glorified, I do believe that taking a persons idea, without proper recognition of that product, is stealing. The production and distribution of counterfeit goods is a multi-billion dollar global problem that has caused serious economic  problems for consumers, businesses and governments. I still remember returning home from Florence with  a new counterfeit Coach bag, and having it removed from me when I came through customs in Australia.  Many Organisations use copyright, which is a legal concept to protect and to accredit the copyright holder of their work. However, those that violate this legal concept are causing immeasurable damage and effecting the sales of an organisations legitimate goods and services. 

                                                          Courtesy of Google Images

                                                            Courtesy of Google Images

The Counterfeit Economy is estimated to be worth about 8% of the worlds trade and 'and is worth an estimated 475 billion a year (International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition, 2008)' (Michaelidou & Christodoulides,  p.977). It is a hard industry to not get sucked into.  I mean paying 50 dollars for a 400 dollar bag, that looks the same and feels the same, seems like the way to go.  I have bought numerous counterfeit goods, and downloaded music illegally. 'File–sharing, according to the industry, is unfair to recorded artists, because they have intellectual property rights in proprietary recordings’ (Martin, Moore, Salter 2010, p.1).  However, many policies have been put to action to try and liquidate the counterfeit economy. Martin, Moore, and Salter discuss the concept 'devaluation and validation'. The Music industry try to devalue those responsible for distributing and downloading music illegally by recognizing them as criminals, and no better than those who raid banks. This tactic is there to scare those responsible for file sharing, and risk heavily penalization. I must admit, it is very intimidating, and I always think twice before clicking the download or share button. However, 'File–sharing participants are validated when they are humanized — given faces, motivations and personal details — and shown to be behaving like anyone else, namely not like criminals’ (Martin, Moore, Salter 2010, p.1).  Therefore if well respected people are validated, and support file sharing, the cycle of supplying and distributing counterfeit goods and services will continue. This is because it means that people will respect the validated individual and may follow in his steps towards the support of file sharing, and the distribution of counterfeit goods. 

Reference List

Courtesy of Google Images

N. Michaelidou, G, Christodoulides, 2011 Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 27, No. 9/10, p. 976

Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C. 2010, ‘Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry’, First Monday, vol. 15, no. 1