Between the RIAA and MPAA with the DMCA and this, when did government become the policeman for business? If someone makes or buys a fake, copies a CD or whatever, isn’t it the responsibility of the company to sue the person rather than have government goons do the work for them? I guess if you have the money for bribe… er, um… lobbyists then you can get government to do anything. In other words, coming to the U.S. soon.
Holidaymakers could be fined thousands of pounds – or even jailed – for buying fake designer goods when abroad, copyright lawyers are warning.
Authorities in France and Italy are not just targeting those who produce and sell fakes but also those who buy them. In France, the maximum fine is 300,000 euro (£260,000) or three years in jail.
[…]
Intellectual property lawyer Simon Tracey said anyone tempted to bring back items such as fake designer sunglasses, a football top or handbag from their holidays should beware. He said lots of people have already been fined thousands of euros for owning a fake, and France seemed “a little bit harsher” than Italy. But he said it was hard to persuade people that owning a fake was “a bad thing”.“The problem is, it is an intellectual theft, so therefore it’s much harder to explain to people that it is wrong, but in reality – as a matter of social responsibility – it is just as bad as stealing.”
This is why government is such a great thing. And Obama wants so much more government.
They’re just trying to mimic the way the US tried to protect their music and movie industry. In this case it’s to protect their designer industry. And… European law enforcement isn’t the same as US law enforcement.
Apparently, everything can be linked to the Obama presidency. Thanks, Faxon, for your well thought out comment. Your statement, along with the facts you present, taught me a valuable lesson and converted me to your way of thinking. And, to think, this whole time I thought it was the prior administration who spied on it’s own citizens and expanded the role of government into our everyday lives. Hallelujah, I’ve seen the light!
And if you had no idea you bought a fake? Now you’re screwed in more ways than just getting ripped off…
“but in reality – as a matter of social responsibility – it is just as bad as stealing”
I’d say a 300,000 euro fine (where your ignorance is no excuse) _was_ stealing.
#3 and everyone else out there reading, I just wanted to warn you all.
Obama and his cronies are also responsible for:
1. Global warming
2. AIDS
3. The dinosaurs extinction asteroid
4. Male pattern baldness
and
5. High price of tea in China
Oh, and that beloved pet you had when you were six and it died and you cried for a week, Obama choked it to death with piano wire just to watch it die.
careful Xjonx, Don’t feed them any “talking points”. They’ll be quoting you any minute now
Europe is going fascist now?
Everybody should protest by purchasing a cheap Chinese clone phone, canceling their contract with Verizon/AT&T/whoever and switching to prepaid minutes.
from #6 xjonx
4. Male pattern baldness
The Bastard !!!
#2 you’re right – and they will be just as successful – to the point they will destroy the sales of the real merchandise.
If you were in Europe and saw there was a sale at Bulgari, or saw a Gucci bag for 10% off would you buy it? Or would you be too afraid of buying a fake by mistake.
(And yes, designer merchandise often goes on sale – to get rid of last year’s items.)
#10 – chuck – If you were in Europe and saw there was a sale at Bulgari, or saw a Gucci bag for 10% off would you buy it? Or would you be too afraid of buying a fake by mistake.
Very good point.
It’s hard to explain to people because they know instinctively that the concept of intellectual property is absurd. The idea that someone else owns a thought in my head is only something big business and governement could come up with.
Of course they think if I fail to give them money every time I draw three circles together in a way reminiscent of a mouses face that I’m stealing.
But of course in reality – as a matter of social responsibility – it is stealing when they try to extort us into paying them.
I’m sorry to see that idiocy is not limited to the good ol’ USA, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, protector and spreader of Freedom and Democracy. Way to go France and Italy!
So it’s been perfectly legal to manufacture the real merchandise, overseas, to beat the cost of labor in the US or France or England. But when one of these 3rd world county’s underpaid labor force starts knocking off copies of something, they’ve probably been making for $.25 an hour. Then it becomes illegal, because the major stockholders of the companies who hold the copyrights and patents, aren’t profiting from this. Forget right and wrong issues. It’s purely about profit. And governments have been in the profit protecting business, since when we all had Kings and Queens running the show.