while legal arguments rage, counterfeiting on eBay has continued to flourish – something that Tim Phillips believes is a dereliction of duty on the part of the brands. "They complain about the hit to their profits," he says, "but they haveRothmans Cigarettes had plenty of time to address this issue, and they've simply been asleep at the wheel." Some discerning buyers will have undoubtedly been attracted to Portero.com – a fashion site that proudly claims to screen all its auction listings for fakes – but there's still no shortage of fakes on eBay, according to fashion journalist Antonia Kraskowsi. "There have been spates of account hijacking," she says, "where counterfeiters hack into reputable eBay accounts for the weekend, sell a load of fake products, Russian Style Cigarettesand by the time the breach has been noticed – well, they're long gone." But selling fraudulently isn't quite as easy as it once was; although eBay triumphed in the case against Tiffany, Holmes notes that they have become a lot more compliant since the ruling – "probably to stay above reproach" – and software packages such as MarkMonitor have proved a hit with firms by automating the process of of tracking down counterfeits and assessing which vendors to pursue through the courts. According to Holmes, many of those who casually get involved in selling counterfeits online aren't aware of the seriousness of the crime or, indeed, the associated punishments – perhaps because the products they're selling are benign fashion accessories rather than drugs or weapons, or perhaps because there's a feeling that they're somehow "sticking it to the man".Salem Cigarettes But as with any crime, fear is an important deterrent. "If someone goes to prison for selling fake jeans or handbags online, that resonates in the community. But unfortunately [anti-counterfeit operations] tend not to get publicised by the luxury goods industry, because they don't want elegant products to be associated with law enforcement. Urbanwear manufacturers are particularly reluctant, because a good proportion of the kids who wear their stuff don't actually like the police." There are exceptions; Louis Vuitton has publicly stated that it employs a team of 60 to work entirely on anti-counterfeiting, but to Tim Phillips, the majority of companies are simply in denial about the scale of the problem. "For example, none of them admit to how much they're losing to counterfeiters," he says. "If they were to be honest about the sums, heads would roll. They just seem to think of people who buy counterfeits as non-customers, rather than potential customers." It's certainly true that the battle against restricting demand for counterfeits is as desperate, perhaps as futile, as that being fought against the supply chain; for every person who is furious at being palmed off with a crappy imitation, Sobranie Cigarettes there are more who are happy to wear or carry cheap products that closely approximate the originals, and are unconcerned about the ills to society caused by counterfeiting – money laundering, criminal activity, sweatshop labour, and much else besides. "I've been called a sanctimonious twerp for saying this," says Phillips, "but we do have responsibilities beyond 'buying nice stuff'." But it's becoming clear that consumers are as uninterested in the preservation of intellectual property rights in the world of fashion as they are in the world of music. "Once people start thinking that the benefits of owning an authentic item don't necessarily justify the price," continues Phillips, "you can't make them unthink it." The article is from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/boomtime-for-fashion-fakers-1700875.html