Fakes, Coming to a Store Near You

fishdan writes to tell us that while most Slashdotters have their own trusted sources for gear there is a growing concern that all consumers should look out for. According to PC World, more and more counterfeit hardware is coming to market each year. From the article: '...batteries aren't the only tech item that counterfeiters love. In October 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Anchorage, Alaska, seized 20,000 suspected fake Memorex USB memory key thumb drives from Asia. And last year, Miami officials seized 900 allegedly phony laptops valued at $700,000. "Maybe it's a laptop, an MP3 player, or a component like a DVD drive--anything in the digital world can be counterfeited," says Therese Randazzo, a U.S. Customs Service counterfeiting expert.'"

Comments

Some of this can certainly be attributed to

[Travoltus]

IP theft happening in offshore factories placed in IP piracy-friendly nations, like China.

That's what you get for offshore outsourcing to despotic nations. China won't even prosecute IP theft. In fact, China is involved in it. Ask Cisco about Huawei or Chevrolet about the Cherry QQ if you do not believe me.

Offshore to a democratic, (relatively) moral nation like Germany, though, and they'll prosecute an IP thief.