Do you think modern technology makes counterfeiting easier for the criminals or is it better for those working to protect trademarks?
Modern technology definitely makes counterfeiting easier and is what is behind the upsurge which started in the late 1960s. Trademark counterfeiting is not a new crime and dates back to the Middle Ages and the trade guilds; each guild by law had to have a distinguishing mark. Counterfeiting was widespread and the crime has always been in effect. The crime began to escalate thanks to many factors like the Internet, the global marketplace, containerization, the Information Age, containerization, to name a few factors. Modern businesses have fought back with better legislation like the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984, the first U.S. law to address the crime, and with advances in security in packaging which certainly make counterfeiting more difficult. Security features like RFID and holograms are effective but can be defeated. The Internet is the best example of a technology that has devastated the industry. Newsweek Magazine did a story in its September 25th issue on prescription drug fraud which is essentially out of control, as much as 50% in some third world countries and becoming a problem in industrialized countries. The Internet has devastated the entertainment industries. The music industry has seen its revenues shrink by about 50% since Napster came onto the scene in 1999. One of the few success stories is cable piracy. The industry began scrambling its signal to stop widespread piracy starting in the 1980s but finally came up with an encryption that was too costly to defeat.
Modern technology definitely makes counterfeiting easier and is what is behind the upsurge which started in the late 1960s. Trademark counterfeiting is not a new crime and dates back to the Middle Ages and the trade guilds; each guild by law had to have a distinguishing mark. Counterfeiting was widespread and the crime has always been in effect. The crime began to escalate thanks to many factors like the Internet, the global marketplace, containerization, the Information Age, containerization, to name a few factors. Modern businesses have fought back with better legislation like the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984, the first U.S. law to address the crime, and with advances in security in packaging which certainly make counterfeiting more difficult. Security features like RFID and holograms are effective but can be defeated. The Internet is the best example of a technology that has devastated the industry. Newsweek Magazine did a story in its September 25th issue on prescription drug fraud which is essentially out of control, as much as 50% in some third world countries and becoming a problem in industrialized countries. The Internet has devastated the entertainment industries. The music industry has seen its revenues shrink by about 50% since Napster came onto the scene in 1999. One of the few success stories is cable piracy. The industry began scrambling its signal to stop widespread piracy starting in the 1980s but finally came up with an encryption that was too costly to defeat.