HELLS ANGELS NOW COUNTERFEITS TONER & INK

[Anonymous]

Hell’s Angels, mafia enter counterfeit software market            
RCMP
and Microsoft officials say product piracy is not limited to wayward
resellers or small stores that don’t know any better. And software is
by no means the only thing being pirated.     
MARKHAM,
Ont. — Microsoft Canada and RCMP officials have linked the notorious
Hell’s Angels biker gang — along with Asian triads and other ethnic
organized crime outfits in Canada — to software and other computer
products counterfeiting.At the 11th annual Anti-Counterfeiting
Conference, held here, officials from law enforcement, concerned
community groups and the IT industry exposed all sorts of counterfeit
products from aircraft parts, soccer jerseys, perfume, luxury hand
bags, Adidas running shoes, Viagra pills, condoms, Timberland work
boots, baby formula, heart medication, toy action figures and glue. IT
items ranged from Dell laptop computers, Xbox console systems,
software, ink toner cartridges, cell and laptop batteries, optical disk
drives, and PC cables.In the past, software piracy has been linked to
“Mom and Pop” shops or resellers trying to make a fast buckKen Hansen,
superintendent and director of the federal enforcement branch of the
RCMP, said 15 year’s ago intellectual property crime was not considered
to be a serious problem. Today, it is very different.“Every major
organized crime gang is doing this. This is a lucrative way of making
money with low risk,” Hansen said.For example, if the RCMP nabs someone
with 40 kg of cocaine, they are going to jail. That same person with
100 kg of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs gets a fine, Hansen
said.“Organized crime are making huge profits with low risk. Even if
they get caught the penalties are too low,” he said.The RCMP has
evidence from the more than 400 investigations done this year that link
biker gangs, oriental triads and the Italian mafia in Canada to
counterfeiting. He added that the financial gains from counterfeiting
are then funneled into other illegal activities such as the drug trade
and prostitution.“They are now infiltrating major retailers,” Hansen
said.This leads to innocent consumers buying non-authentic merchandise
and not even knowing it. Even the retailers are unaware that the
counterfeit products are in their stores.According to Lorne Lipkus, a
founding member of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network and partner
in the Toronto law firm Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP, said
counterfeiting is the largest growing crime in North America.Lipkus
stated that in 2005 counterfeit products was between five to seven per
cent of the world economy. Today, that figure has grown to 18 per cent
of the world economy, the vast majority of which is sold at flea
markets.“We just can’t keep up with counterfeiter wholesalers and
manufacturers, so how can we keep up with the flea markets?” Lipkus
said.Of real concern are the phony batteries and printer cartridges
that blow up equipment, Lipkus said.“There are three to four year old
children working in factories in China mixing chemicals for these
counterfeit toner and batteries. Some of these (kids) are being
poisoned,” Lipkus said.He added that one of the easiest ways to put a
dent into counterfeiting is by amending the Customs Act to enable
officers at the border to search for and detain potential counterfeit
products for the RCMP.“I wish I had an answer as to why it is taking
the government so long to simply amend this Act. I’ve been holding this
conference for 11 years and I have been fighting counterfeiting for 20
years. It is about applying the right amount of pressure the government
for them to respond,” Lipkus said.There is an environmental as well as
an economic fallout from counterfeiting, Lipkus said. The knock-off
batteries cannot be destroyed because of the mercury in them.Sue
Harper, anti-piracy manager for Microsoft Canada, said the Canadian
Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) has estimated the losses to the
software industry in Canada to be at just under $950 million because of
counterfeiting.Harper added that she wasn’t surprised to learn that
biker gangs and other organized crime groups are behind this.

[Author]

December 15, 2006 at 12:14 PM