Are counterfeit products = dangerous products?

JOHN DVORAK wrote a great piece on Marketwatch this weekend, I think its worth mentioning. The story is about the industry of counterfeiting (if you can even call it that) which has just gone way too far, and how it poses a threat to all of us.

Anyone working in international trade knows about the long tradition of counterfeiting of brand-name products from Louis Vuitton to Rolex. This has gone on for decades abated only by the occasional symbolic "bust."

This situation worsened during a fundamental change in media distribution when the videocassette became a target for counterfeit distribution of first-run movies. The pace quickened, though, with the digitization of everything and the new ease with which perfect copies can be made. As expected China is the heart of the counterfeiting industry.


The article address the issue of quality and even more important safety of fake products all the way to multimillion-dollar scams and counterfeiting chips in Silicone Valley.

The problem with counterfeit parts is that they are hard to detect until it's too late. The original logos are removed and replaced with high-end logos with pertinent parts numbers. But the fact remains that they are the wrong parts, and the finished product will just fail without warning.

Its a fact that counterfeiting has been around for years what's change now is that its just easier then ever to replicate something since most of today's new media is consumed in a digital form, but what happens when the parts used the fake products puts the consumers in a real threat, lets say a major car manufacturer uses a counterfeit chip for the car's Air bags or ABS and so on...
Its scary to imagine the consequences. Fact is that many big branded fake products for there brands, and usually we simply have no idea about it.


Anyway lets keep in mind that the ultimate goal of every business is making a profit at the end of the day, let's just hope they will keep consumers safety and quality in mind.