National Geographic show tonight, Illicit:
The world is under threat from a new kind of international crime wave: illicit trade in everything from knock-off Prada bags to bogus medicines, from dangerous weapons to humans themselves. While smuggling is nothing new, globalization has made it larger and far more ominous. The global value of this
PaperMag: “Murakami Sells Real LV Bags on the Street!”
As part of the exhibit, Murakami and LV will be placing eight “pocketbook” street vendors on the street in front of the museum selling REAL Vuitton bags that were specially designed by Murakami and LV for this particular piece.
NY Times: The Power of the Purse (Video of Deborah Solomon asking New Yorkers about designer handbags).
Gizmodo: “Media Player Knockoff Hall of Shame“:
I just ventured into the bowels of the International Pavilion, a separate building beyond the North Hall that’s home to tons of tiny booths of companies from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Basically, it’s full of power supplies, shitty digital picture frames and knockoffs
CNN.COM: Court Orders Cartoon Characters To Witness Stand:
An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case.
In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters
Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 73
Discourse.net: “Can Typosquatting Be Counterfeiting?”
“The story there is about Dell bringing a very large and organized case against a bunch of domain tasters (people who register domain names for a very brief period then drop them, so they don’t have to pay for them) who were apparently typosquatting on a grand scale.
WSJ.com: “Efforts to Quantify Sales of Pirated Goods Lead to Fuzzy Figures:
“”It is virtually impossible to find accurate statistics to substantiate these perceptions” that counterfeiting is on the rise, the ICC author wrote.
The barriers to accurate data on piracy are clear: It’s a shadowy business run by criminals.”
Cigar Aficionado: Counterfeit Gallery.
Counterfeit Chic: “Knockoff News 70”