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Super Bowl Bust: Feds Grab 307 NFL Websites; $4.8M

Posted by timothy on from the first-they-came-for-the-pirated-sports-gewgaws dept.

coondoggie writes "Speaking at a National Football League press conference ahead of this weekend's Super Bowl, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said special agents this week seized a total of 307 websites and snatched up 42,692 items of phony Super Bowl-related memorabilia along with other counterfeit items for a total take of more than $4.8 million – up from $3.72 million last year."

12 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Mathematics by don+depresor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they seize 43k items of merchandise, that means the average value for the caps, shirts and stuff on the photo is more than 100$ each... WTF???

  2. great use of our tax money by peas_n_carrots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, because counterfeit NFL gear is incredibly detrimental to society. Unlike drugs, murder, and other violence. And why spend money on education when money can be thrown towards law enforcement to satisfy the corporate overlords. Another way of looking at it... thousands of jobs have been destroyed so that the uber-rich NFL owners can snatch even more money from the commoners.

    1. Re:great use of our tax money by TWX · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No, it's probably more about low-hanging fruit.

      Remember, when someone buys drugs they're buying something they generally know is illegal, same with the seller. Both have a personal interest in keeping the transaction as low-key as possible.

      A purchaser of sports memorabilia is not looking to buy anything illegal. That means that the sellers of sports memorabilia in general are not low-key, and have to seem legitimate, which could open them up to investigation if the copyright and trademark holders do a good job of documenting the supply chain. Remember, many products have minimum costs per the resale agreement, and any price coming in under that price could automatically trigger a more thorough look. If one is counterfeiting memorabilia and is not aware of the minimum price, attempting to undercut legitimate resellers to drive sales could attract attention.

      I know this because years ago I worked for a small business that did all manner of technology and equipment work. Among the company's offerings were OEM software products, and remember, the definition of OEM back then was loose enough that one could buy a copy of Office or Windows as an OEM product if buying a qualifying hardware product, which could mean something as cheap as a Microsoft mouse. Well, the owner of the small business found a supplier of Windows and Office that let him sell for really, really cheap, and he advertised. A few days later, an investigator on behalf of Microsoft stopped by. He and the owner talked, and basically the rep was willing to exchange all of our copies of everything we had bought for resale in exchange for being given the information on the party that sold us the software. It probably worked that way because we had about fifteen products, not exactly a mecca of commercial piracy. He collected the counterfeits, gave us real ones, and left with contact information. Before he left he explained the supply chain that Microsoft used to distribute, and how prices really never fell below a certain threshold for current products.

      Back to this situation, if the real owners and producers of the licensed memorabilia have a supply chain with defined prices, it's easy to catch sellers who have unlicensed product if you just watch for their ads.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  3. More bad news? by Artea · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Reading Slashdot every day is starting to make me wonder if I'm allowed to do anything besides spend all my money and work (for less) without getting sued or arrested for copyright, patent, counterfeiting, or violating some all encompassing do-what-I-say law.

  4. ACTA? by t4ng* · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While everyone was fretting over SOPA/PIPA, Obama secretly signed the ACTA treaty back in October, 2011. Both Obama And Bush declared during their respective presidencies that the text of ACTA was classified due to national security. Both denied FOI petitions. So how does a citizen have any hope of not breaking the law when the laws themselves are kept secret from citizens?

  5. Re:And nobody made any more money... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's unclear what, if any, effect these seizures have on the economy.

    Well I can tell you, there's a few ware houses and container ships which are probably going to have a little problem disposing of inventory which is still in the pipe.

    Not to mention an end to my pursuit of an Official Super Bowl Batmobile Car Kit.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  6. in other news by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    nagios detected the 'seized' logo on 307 of my sites, and kicked off the rsync job for 307 new sites. lets hope this doesnt happen again, i only have 14,205 registered domains left from which to sell my yet-to-be-created JIT manufactured merchandise from china.

    Also, does anyone know if they still put the holographic sticker on the "authentic" merchandise? Ive got a trading partner from alibaba.com that can crank them out in rolls of 5000, but he needs some notice.

    heres hoping the superbowl is a huge success this year! I know the money really helped me last year when i had to pay off my foreclosure. this year my daughter needs braces, and my wifes blood pressure medication isnt covered by costco insurance.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  7. The Obama Administration's Priorities by Adrian+Lopez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Taking down domains without a trial, secretly negotiating international IP treaties (ACTA), threatening American ISPs into adopting a "six strikes" policy...

    Judging by its actions, IP enforcement is clearly the Obama Administration's top priority. Is it corruption, or is it just plain disregard for justice and the due process of law?

    --
    "In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
  8. ICE Correction by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Informative
    From TFA, ICE stated:

    "Visitors to these websites will then find a seizure banner that notifies them that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities and educates them that willful copyright infringement is a federal crime."

    Correction: Willful copyright infringement in the form of selling counterfeit merchandise is a Federal crime. If you are infringing copyright solely for personal use, the vast majority of the time there is no "crime" at all. It is a civil infraction.

  9. Re:China by Firehed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not that I support this kind of action, but it at least proves that bills like SOPA are unnecessary. Rights-holders already have a legal means to deal with infringers. It may be inefficient, but I think most slashdotters would agree that's preferable to the alternative.

    --
    How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  10. Re:China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and I'd like to know when the copyright, trademark holders will be getting a bill for the government's services.

  11. Re:China by Skater · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On a related note, I wonder if Slashdot paid for the rights to use the term "Super Bowl" - the NFL defends that term pretty vigorously. This is why places that have, for example, televisions on sale this week have signs up that say, "Get your new TV for the big game!" Grocery stores refer to food for the "big game" party. And so on.

    The other day, I even heard a DJ on Sirius (satellite radio) saying he wasn't sure what he could say in regards to the game. The odd part is that Sirius will be carrying the game, so even within companies that ARE actually affiliated with the NFL, it's not clear.