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

I don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

What is wrong with counterfeit electronics? Do they have different functionality, are they shabbily built, or do they just take profits away from the rightful owners of the product?

Re:I don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

It goes really far down the chain. Nowdays you can't buy certain power transistors from just anywhere. Prized japense power transistors like even 2sc5200/2sa1943 are being counterfeited. the counterfeit devices have a much smaller die and no heatspreader. they are just glued to the package.

This obviously has issues with the entire manufacturing process. anything that needed these parts now must be tested.

counterfeit stuff is almost certainly poor quality, possibly bordering on dangerous. it makes the most sense as you get maximum profits that way.

Further there is no accountability. A defective and dangerous product could harm people, thusly bringing lawsuits. These lawsuits would target, in this case, innocent corporations instead of outright dishonest ones. the lack of a need to care about the consumer at all makes counterfeitting electronics dangerous.

Re:I don't get it

[darkith]

NiMH batteries are generally pretty safe. They don't really require any onboard electronics, just a peak detecting charger if they're being fast-charged. If shorted, they may get *really* hot or ignite adjacent materials, but they're not as reactive as lithium based technology.

Li-Ion/Li-Poly cells are the dangerous ones. Basically they can reach a run-away condition very easily, and lithium is *very* reactive. They can ignite if punctured, charged too fast, over-charged, or if they drop below a certain voltage and are then charged at normal rates. They will also swell/burst if over-discharged or over-heated. Most Li-Poly/Li-Ion packs include a circuit with a thermal cutoff to prevent over-heating, a circuit to prevent shorting/excessive-discharge-rates, and a circuit that isolates the pack if it drops below a safe voltage (usually around 2.5-2.8 volts per cell).

I did purchase a pair of Li-poly batteries for a cell phone, which were no-name imports. They did not have any cutoff circuitry, and I suspect could have been nasty if they wandered out of spec (either through abuse or a defective phone). I used them with no problems though, but I think I'd reconsider, given what I know now about Lithium cells.
That said, the circuitry required for Lithium cells is becoming cheaper everyday (the functionality is avaiable in a single chip), so I wouldn't be surprised if "decent" third-party units do have the desired safety functionality.

D.

Wait till you see...

[bronney]

what we have in stores for you. Earlier we had soy sauce made from hair juice. Yes, factories in China grinding human hair into juice and mix with water.

Fake down blankets stuffed with shit polyesters.

Now hear this, fake EGGS. Yes you heard right. What mogglers my bind was how on earth could you make eggs cheaper than collecting from chickens. The fake eggs were obviously inedible, but will crack and pour just like a real egg, with yolks and stuff.

The famous fake gucci's and LV's are old news.

Latest that came in from a buddy who works in shenzhen was that he rode in a fake mercedes benz. They copied all contours and instead of the tri-star, it's a 5 pointed-star (China)! Cool eh.

REAL goods, FAKE labels

[NigelJohnstone]

"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."

Do Memorex even make USB drives, or do they simply buy them in from Asian and stick their badge on them?

"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.'"

I bet they were *real* laptops and *real* mp3 players, the only difference was the label. What you're saying is they can fake *labels*. But that's just because the USA has become a fake brand country, companies license a brand like Polaroid or Caterpillar, buy in cheap Asian crap, stick a "Polaroid" badge on it and charge loads more money because people think they're buying American.

Who cares if those fake brands get pirated, since its the difference between an overprice Asian product and a cheap Asian product, it's still jobs in Asia.

They should tackle false origin of goods labelling instead, since that's the cause of jobs being lost in USA and Europe. How can an Italian shoe maker compete with companies which appear to be Italian luxury show makers, but are just fake Asian brands with some minor finishing in Italy?

Elevators too

[whoda]

There was a story about counterfiting in an issue of Fast Company last year. In it, there was an example of an elevator company who got called to service an elevator in a high-rise building.

The elevator company had no record that they had an elevator installed there.
When the technicians got there, they couldn't fix anything, because the elevator wasn't really theirs. It was a knock-off!