Fakes, facts and figures
Fake goods are not cheap. In fact, they exact a heavy cost on industry, governments and the general public. There is a strong case for public action across OECD countries against counterfeiting. The question is how to make progress?
Want to buy an expensive Swiss watch? Not everyone can afford a real one–a Patek Philippe timepiece can be worth many thousands of dollars, and some very exclusive makes, such as a Vacheron Constantin, can cost over a million! Still, you may have found a convincing lookalike in some market on your travels: the genuine item is made of several hundred parts and would have taken many thousands of hours of costly research and development to make, but this imitation seems to work well, and it looks smart. You shrug your shoulders and buy it, because “anyway, counterfeiting is a harmless activity!” But what if the airplane you were about to board had been repaired with counterfeit airplane parts: How smart would you feel then?
Modern counterfeiters will copy or recycle just about anything as long as there is a profit to be made, and they are becoming increasingly adept at doing so. The last laugh is on the consumer. Counterfeit or pirated products may seem temptingly cheap, but they are neither a small nor a harmless business. Did you know that when you buy fake designer glasses or a pirated CD you could be financing organised crime or even terrorism, and that for every euro you spend the counterfeiter is making huge profits? Indeed, the counterfeit and pirate goods business can be more lucrative than selling illegal drugs, and with a lower risk of being caught.
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