Comments on: “Same Same” (but different)

By: Claire Rogers

Claire Rogers — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:19:08 +0000

@Jon W - Jon, Another point on intellectual property is the proportionately higher cost of technology due to proprietary information. In the climate change debate, third world countries are clamouring for the cleaner technology, but can't afford the developed world's prices. Couldn't there be a tiered pricing system that allows poorer countries to make use of modern technology without fueling a black market back in the richer countries?

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By: Bob Rogers

Bob Rogers — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:08:12 +0000

Right on Jon! Thank you. BTW, having some great food in Bangkok. Love the smells coming from the street carts.

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By: Jon W

Jon W — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:12:51 +0000

Having picked up a few FRolex watches over the years in China I have asked myself “what the impact” of such a purchase is. I see two levels of the problem. In the case of a Rolex I don’t think that the market place for real and counterfeit is the same customer so the fake product has some value in promoting the real brand. In the case of books, CDs and DVDs, this is piracy and copyright infringement. The customer for the fake product is the same as the real customer and taking the royalties away from the author/artists. This is stealing.

The hard part is when counterfeit products become so prevalent that they damage the authenticity of the real brand. Louis Vuitton, Coach and Prada suffer from this issue with their leather goods. The fake products are so prevalent that the real products fight to hold a market share. The fake’s prevalence also diminishes the real products value as it infringes on the exclusivity of the real.

Good or bad this market creates its own global marketplace and provides jobs and income for many people around the world. If the workers were not making Rolex watches would they honestly be making unbranded watches? These are not necessity purchases, so more than likely the market would not exist for their product without the stolen identity.

As for me, I have chosen to leave my FRolexes in the drawer as of late (most have broken in one way or another anyway) and proudly wear my 20-30 year old Seiko diver watch daily while trying to teach our children that music, photographs, movies and books are paid for, rented or borrowed from the library. We also are trying to teach them to fully understand where things come from and buy local if possible, but that leads into another subject.

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