Everyone knows that Counterfeiting and Piracy are so rampant in China. And MNCs all over the world are fighting a losing war against this.
''We are spending millions of dollars to combat counterfeiting,'' says Joseph M. Johnson, president for China operations at Bestfoods Asia Ltd., which thinks one-quarter of its Skippy Peanut Butter sold in China is pirated. ''Unfortunately, the problem is getting much worse.''
''Counterfeiting does impact our sales,'' says Tina S. Berry, a spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark Corp., whose Kotex feminine care products have been pirated. ''But our major concern is that the consumer will be dissatisfied because of inferior quality.''
(So Ladies, do be extremely careful...)
Various factors are behind China's piracy rise.
The spread of advanced production technology--be it affordable color-copying machines, entire production lines supplied by veteran pirates from Taiwan, or knowhow stolen from multinationals that have been required by Beijing to transfer technology to local partners--has given pirates the ability to make near perfect replicas of everything from Power Ranger action figures to the packaging of Microsoft Corp. software.
Increasingly loose global supply chains have also contributed: Traders use Internet chat rooms and unauthorized dealership networks to move product around the planet---and mix fakes in with legitimate products sold on the secondary gray market.
But veterans of China's piracy wars know they cannot underestimate the enemy.
Microsoft found this out when it started including holograms on its software boxes, and then inside the user manuals.
Pirates soon learned the trick.
They have gotten so good that they are making knockoff CDs of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system in packaging that is almost indistinguishable from the original. Indeed, whereas fake software for years has sold for a couple of dollars in arcades or street markets, pirates are now able to sell through established retailers--and are fetching up to 95% of the full price of a Windows NT disk, which sells for $240 in China.
''We have no idea who is manufacturing this stuff,'' says Hong Kong-based Microsoft attorney Tom Robertson. ''But this is a concerted criminal enterprise backed by serious businessmen.''
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Now, let us relax & watch this cute video a fine example of China's Copy Cats doing a Backstreet Boys' "As long as You love Me"..
Below. China Officials prepare to destroy pirated CDs and DVDs in Beijing Friday, Dec. 8, 2006. Some 150,000 pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated this year were destroyed during the campaign. An American film industry official said Thursday that China should lift barriers that block most movie imports, warning that they are fueling its thriving market for pirated titles and hurting Chinese studios. (AP Photo/Color China Photo)
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