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Thread: Chinese Counterfeits, Fakes & Knock-Offs

  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    It really shouldn't have taken the dog barking for anyone to see that it's a dog, not a lion. It doesn't even look like a lion.
    Reminds me of this story.

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/dog-...-lion-18178754

    The 911 calls are great. If I caught that dog running towards me to say hello out of the corner of my eye, I may startle a bit. But if I saw it from across the street, from the ride, whatever, I would know within seconds of being attracted to the unusual sight that it was a dog.

  2. #32
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    busted

    Trafficking in knockoff Nikes sends Chinese immigrant couple to prison
    By Lou Michel | News Staff Reporter
    on August 22, 2013 - 7:14 PM
    , updated August 22, 2013 at 8:23 PM

    Ling Zen Hu was described as an “illiterate” and “simple” woman who barely spoke English trying to succeed as a clerk in one of two New York City sneaker warehouses.

    Her husband worked long hours as a chef and taxi driver and never realized he was breaking the law delivering the sneakers.

    But the couple got caught up in an international, multimillion-dollar importing ring that sold fake Nikes and other counterfeit brand-name footwear.

    Their attorneys hoped they could walk away from U.S. District Court in Buffalo on Thursday with fines and probation instead of spending years behind bars.

    Though the two were spared lengthy sentences, Judge Richard J. Arcara said their crimes were serious enough to require some prison time. Because they took plea deals to lesser charges, they are not expected to be deported to China.

    Arcara sentenced Hu, 51, to a year in federal prison, and her husband, Xiao Cheng Lin, 50, to six months. The judge departed from recommended sentencing guidelines because the two had never before been in trouble with the law. In court, each apologized to the judge through a translator and said they did not know they were violating American laws.

    Buffalo defense attorney Mark J. Mahoney said Hu’s boss placed $750,000 in cash, money orders and phony merchandise in her Queens home for safekeeping before being deported to China in 2008. The items were later seized.

    New York attorney Todd D. Greenberg said his client, Lin, had no idea he was breaking the law when he delivered the fake sneakers for his wife, emphasizing that his client made a “minimal” number of deliveries.

    Mahoney, who was critical of the government for devoting resources to what he considers an overblown investigation, argued that a language barrier prevented his client from realizing she was involved in an illegal operation, pointing out that she had no idea who basketball icon and Nike pitchman Michael Jordan was.

    Hu and Lin were granted asylum 22 years ago under a claim of persecution from China’s one-child rule that forced Hu to have an abortion, Mahoney said.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski questioned attempts to downplay Hu’s role. What “boss” would trust a mere worker with so much money and other valuables, unless the individual had a bigger role? he said. The husband, Rogowski added, had to know more than he did, given that he lived in the same house with his wife.

    “This business is lucrative,” Rogowski said of the counterfeit merchandise. “A message needs to be sent that this is a serious offense.”

    The couple first caught the attention of law enforcement several years ago after Niagara Falls police received complaints about fake Nike sneakers being sold from makeshift stands at deeply reduced prices. Local agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who listened in on phone calls, determined that a smuggling ring for the Nike knockoffs was behind the bargain-priced sneakers.

    Under a plea agreement reached last September, the wife and husband each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import mislabeled items. Hu could have been received up to 46 months in federal prison, and Lin 37 months.

    Arcara also fined Hu $7,500 and Lin $6,000, and each will face a year of supervised release after serving their sentences. If Hu abides by prison rules, she could be freed after about 300 days. Because Lin’s sentence is less than a year, he must serve the full six months.

    Greenberg secured a break for the family when he asked that the couple not be imprisoned at the same time, noting that their children and Lin’s ailing father, 82, would have no means of support. The judge said he would not object to such an arrangement.
    This sounds like they only caught some small fish and are frying them just to 'send' that message.
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  3. #33
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    Maybe the ATM was possessed

    Xi'an ATM spits out counterfeit 'Chinese Hell Money Bank' bills

    A man surnamed Chen from Xi'an, Shaanxi province was surprised when he withdrew some 100 yuan bills from an ATM to find that 11 of the notes were stamped with 'Chinese Hell Money Bank', Legal Evening News reports.

    Of the 20 bills that Chen withdrew, nine were standard Mao Zedong 100 yuan notes, but 11 fakes issued by the "Chinese Hell Money Bank" were also spit out by the ATM, something that should be impossible as banks screen for fake currency.

    According to banks contacted by the Legal Evening News, notes must go through two counterfeit checks before they are put back in circulation. A spokesperson for the Agricultural Bank of China said that "counterfeit currency cannot sneak into an ATM."

    No bank staff could explain how Chen ended up with fake notes, police are investigating the matter.

    By James Griffiths in News on Sep 8, 2013 6:00 PM
    Wait, counterfeit 'Chinese Hell Money Bank' bills? You mean someone is making counterfeit Hell Money? That's downright ****able. There will be hell to pay!

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  4. #34

    Chinese Art Counterfeiters Make Art Imitating Their Lives

    IN THE NAME OF ANTI-DESIGN, A SELF-PROCLAIMED NON-ARTIST COMMISSIONS CHINESE ARTISANS SPECIALIZING IN COUNTERFEITS TO DEPICT THE REAL THING--THEMSELVES.

    After four years of design school, Zhenhan Hao was fed up with design. The young Chinese national and self-admitted non-artist had grown tired of chasing down trends or attempting to fashion his own. What really interested him, he says, was “something most designers hate--anti-design.”

    What is anti-design, exactly? Hao doesn’t give a clear-cut definition, but he hazards that you just know it when you see it. For him, it was the fake egg scandal that hit China a couple of years ago. “I was shocked and amazed by the fact that a fake egg can be produced by using artificial materials, man-made eggs sold as genuine chicken eggs,” Hao tells Co.Design. “Since then, I have focused my research on the subject of imitation and its social, political, and economic implications.” His imposter-egg inspired studies of Chinese counterfeit culture led to the “Imitation” project, which delves behind the scenes of the huge industry of art and ceramic knockoffs.



    With "Imposter," rather than simply document the (dis)contents of the sprawling art-making complexes that churn out fake antiques and masterworks daily, Hao took a more nuanced undercover approach. He assumed the role of a well-to-do client, with the capital to commission works from specific artisans, each one specializing in their own brand of forgery.

    But this client came with no ordinary paint-me-a-picture commission. He enlisted the artisans--some 40 of them, all from Jingdezhen, China’s porcelain industry center, and Dafen Village, a hub for counterfeit canvases, among other things--as collaborators. Hao then asked them to produce personal works in the style of the masters they’ve learned to emulate. “I built relationships with them before I gave any commission, so that I could reveal the best part of them and ask of them to put some of themselves into the production process,” he explains.



    Working with Hao over email and in person, the artisans produced a vast array objects spanning painting, ceramics, even fine garment-making. The artworks offer a portrait of their makers, like the porcelain craftswoman who incorporated scenes of her daily work life onto the sides of otherwise traditional-style vases. An expert Van Gogh imitator, “Mr. Zhao,” rendered a snapshot of his bedroom with the same emotive brushwork and color palette as the Dutch painter.

    “That is his self-portrait,” Hao says. “Even though he is not in the painting, each object represents him and his story. You can actually see the profound influence of this painting on his life.”
    There are more photos of the counterfeiter's original art in the article, some of them are quite good.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by MightyB View Post
    There are more photos of the counterfeiter's original art in the article, some of them are quite good.
    That's a pretty cool idea, actually. Nice one.

  6. #36
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    Red Bull****

    I first tried Redbull in Beijing, long before it was marketed in America. One of my Shaolin brothers had heard of it and was convinced we'd catch a buzz if we drank them.

    At least 13 held across 10 Chinese provinces in fake Red Bull busts
    Wednesday, 11 September, 2013, 11:09am
    Patrick Boehler patrick.boehler@scmp.com


    A fake Red Bull production site at an undisclosed location. Screenshot from Sina Weibo

    Chinese authorities are continuing their year-long crackdown on fake food products by targeting producers of counterfeit Red Bull cans.

    Police have detained 13 people across 10 provinces in China, China News Service said on Tuesday evening, in an effort to rein in the production and sale of large quantities of counterfeit versions of the popular energy drink.


    Can on the left is authentic Red Bull, can on the right is fake, according to a netizen. Screenshot from Sina Weibo

    They confiscated 3,820 boxes of cans, ingredients and packaging materials in eight locations over the last month in what appears to be nation-wide distribution network, police said.

    Producing fake Red bull can be highly lucrative. Criminals involved in these operations made a 3.7 yuan profit on each fake can sold. Each one of their 12 illegal production lines was turning out 2,400 cans a day. Police have seized 25 million yuan worth of assets as part of their crackdown on these illegal products, the news wire report said.


    A unnamed patient undergoing treatment in a hospital in Shishi, Fujian province, in May after drinking fake Red Bull. Screenshot from Sina Weibo.

    One arrest occurred in Huizhou, Guangdong province, in late August, when a purported Red Bull sales agent toured shops offering the energy drink with a one to two yuan discount, the Dongjiang Times reported.

    Counterfeit versions of the energy drink appeared in China as early as 2005, when police in Fujian seized 180,000 cans of fake Red Bull cans.

    Bringing Red Bull into China in 1995 brought Thai entrepreneur Chanchai Ruayrungruang, also known as Yan Bin, considerable wealth. The Shandong-émigré ranked as China’s fourth richest person, according to last year's Hurun
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  7. #37
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    20,000 kg = 44092.452 lb

    ...or 176,369 quarter pounders.

    You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but you can make a big mac from a pig's butt.


    20,000 kilos of fake beef seized in Xi'an


    Police in Xi'an, Shaanxi province have seized over 20,000 kg of fake beef made from pork and treated with chemicals, JRJ reports.

    The pork was treated with chemicals, including paraffin wax and industrial salts, to make it look like beef. The factory sold over 1,500 kg of the fake beef to local markets at around 25 to 33 yuan per kilo.

    Six workshops producing the 'beef' have been shut down and the meat seized as evidence.

    The news will come as particular concern to Xi'an's large Muslim community, who may have been buying some distinctly non-halal beef.

    By James Griffiths in News on Sep 14, 2013 11:00 PM
    Gene Ching
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  8. #38

    Honey Launderers

    Chinese Honeys doesn't come to the United States because American producers felt the Chinese were dumping their product at artificially (does that make it Nutrasweet) low prices. The Chinese government added tariffs to basically triple the price of Chinese Honey.

    But if you are a German Company called ALW, you find a way around these tariffs until well you are arrested.

    Honey Trap

    More at the link

    Quote Originally Posted by "Yahoo News"
    Magnus von Buddenbrock and Stefanie Giesselbach arrived in Chicago in 2006 full of hope. He was 30, she was 28, and they had both won their first overseas assignments at ALW Food Group, a family-owned food-trading company based in Hamburg. Von Buddenbrock had joined ALW—the initials stand for its founder, Alfred L. Wolff—four years earlier after earning a degree in marketing and international business, and he was expert in the buying and selling of gum arabic, a key ingredient in candy and soft drinks. Giesselbach had started at ALW as a 19-year-old apprentice. She worked hard, learned quickly, spoke five languages, and within three years had become the company’s first female product manager. Her specialty was honey. When the two colleagues began their new jobs in a small fourth-floor office a few blocks from Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, ALW’s business was growing, and all they saw was opportunity.

    On March 24, 2008, von Buddenbrock came to the office around 8:30 a.m., as usual. He was expecting a quiet day: It was a holiday in Germany, and his bosses there had the day off. Giesselbach was on holiday, too; she had returned to Germany to visit her family and boyfriend. Sometime around 10 a.m., von Buddenbrock heard a commotion in the reception area and went to have a look. A half-dozen armed federal agents, all wearing bulletproof vests, had stormed in. “They made a good show, coming in with full force,” he recalls. “It was pretty scary.”

    The agents asked if anybody was hiding anywhere, then separated von Buddenbrock and his assistant, the only two employees there. Agents brought von Buddenbrock into a conference room, where they questioned him about ALW’s honey business. After a couple of hours they left, taking with them stacks of paper files, copies of computer hard drives, and samples of honey.

    Giesselbach returned from Germany three days later. Her flight was about to land at O’Hare when the crew announced that everyone would have to show their passports at the gate. As Giesselbach walked off the plane, federal agents pulled her aside. She, too, answered their questions about ALW’s honey shipments. After an hour, they let her leave. The agents, from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security, had begun to uncover a plot by ALW to import millions of pounds of cheap honey from China by disguising its origins.


    Americans consume more honey than anyone else in the world, nearly 400 million pounds every year. About half of that is used by food companies in cereals, bread, cookies, and all sorts of other processed food. Some 60 percent of the honey is imported from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and other trading partners. Almost none comes from China. After U.S. beekeepers accused Chinese companies of selling their honey at artificially low prices, the government imposed import duties in 2001 that as much as tripled the price of Chinese honey. Since then, little enters from China legally.

    Von Buddenbrock and Giesselbach continued to cooperate with the investigators, according to court documents. In September 2010, though, the junior executives were formally accused of helping ALW perpetuate a sprawling $80 million food fraud, the largest in U.S. history. Andrew Boutros, assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, had put together the case: Eight other ALW executives, including Alexander Wolff, the chief executive officer, and a Chinese honey broker, were indicted on charges alleging a global conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey going back to 2002. Most of the accused executives live in Germany and, for now, remain beyond the reach of the U.S. justice system. They are on Interpol’s list of wanted people. U.S. lawyers for ALW declined to comment.

    In the spring of 2006, as Giesselbach, who declined requests for an interview, was preparing for her job in Chicago, she started receiving e-mail updates about various shipments of honey moving through ports around the world. According to court documents, one on May 3 was titled “Loesungmoeglichkeiten,” or “Solution possibilities.” During a rare inspection, U.S. customs agents had become suspicious about six shipping containers of honey headed for ALW’s customers. The honey came from China but had been labeled Korean White Honey.

    The broker, a small-time businessman from Taiwan named Michael Fan, had already received advice from ALW about how to get Chinese honey into the U.S. ALW executives had told him to ship his honey in black drums since the Chinese usually used green ones. And they had reminded him that the “taste should be better than regular mainland material.” Chinese honey was often harvested early and dried by machine rather than bees. This allowed the bees to produce more honey, but the honey often had an odor and taste similar to sauerkraut. Fan was told to mix sugar and syrup into the honey in Taiwan to dull the pungent flavor.

    After Fan’s honey shipment was confiscated, an ALW executive wrote to Giesselbach and her colleagues: “I request that all recipients not to write e-mail about this topic. Please OVER THE TELEPHONE and in German! Thank you!”

    Nonetheless, Giesselbach and executives in Hamburg, Hong Kong, and Beijing continued to use e-mail for sensitive discussions about the mislabeled honey. When Yan Yong Xiang, an established honey broker from China they called the “famous Mr. Non Stop Smoker,” was due to visit Chicago, Giesselbach received an e-mail. “Topic: we do not say he is shipping the fake stuff. But we can tell him that he should be careful on this topic + antibiotics.” E-mails mention falsifying reports from a German lab, creating fake documents for U.S. customs agents, finding new ways to pass Chinese honey through other countries, and setting up a Chinese company that would be eligible to apply for lower tariffs. Giesselbach comes across as accommodating, unquestioning, and adept.

    ALW relied on a network of brokers from China and Taiwan, who shipped honey from China to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The 50-gallon drums would be relabeled in these countries and sent on to the U.S. Often the honey was filtered to remove the pollen, which could help identify its origin. Some of the honey was adulterated with rice sugar, molasses, or fructose syrup.

    In a few cases the honey was contaminated with the residue of antibiotics banned in the U.S. In late 2006 an ALW customer rejected part of Order 995, three container loads of “Polish Light Amber,” valued at $85,000. Testing revealed one container was contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic the U.S. bans from food. Chinese beekeepers use chloramphenicol to prevent Foulbrood disease, which is widespread and destructive. A deal was made to sell the contaminated honey at a big discount to another customer in Texas, a processor that sold honey to food companies. According to court documents, ALW executives called Honey Holding the “garbage can” for the company’s willingness to buy what others would not. Giesselbach followed up with Honey Holding, noting “quality as discussed.” The contaminated container was delivered on Dec. 14, 2006.

  9. #39
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    $8.2m counterfeit

    fake gong fu.
    Shanghai art experts question US$8.2m work of calligraphy
    They say the lines of manuscript purportedly written by poet Su Shi are lifeless and boring
    PUBLISHED : Sunday, 22 December, 2013, 5:09am
    UPDATED : Sunday, 22 December, 2013, 5:09am
    Stephen Chen binglin.chen@scmp.com

    A famous ancient Chinese calligraphy piece which auctioned for US$8.2 million at Sotheby's in New York in September was challenged by experts from the Shanghai Museum.


    Part of the controversial calligraphy. Photo: Sotheby's

    The museum's three researchers on ancient calligraphy and paintings told the local Xinmin Evening News yesterday that they would soon publish an academic paper questioning the authenticity of Gong Fu Tie by the acclaimed Song Dynasty poet Su Shi, which was bought by a private curator in Shanghai and is slated for exhibition in the city next year.

    They say the calligraphy under scrutiny, written about a thousand years ago, was a copy made less than 200 years ago in the late Qing dynasty.

    "The writing in the auctioned work consisted mainly of side strokes, the lines are all thin and lifeless, they lack dimension and are boring," the report said, citing one of the researchers, Ling Lizhong . "Such penmanship does not in any way resemble that of Dongpo."

    Su also goes by the name Su Dongpo.

    The buyer, Liu Yiqian , owner of the Long Museum in Shanghai, told news portal Sina late last night that he had contacted Sotheby's, and the auction house would set up a panel of global experts to examine the calligraphy.

    Liu said irrespective of whether the panel backed the Shanghai experts' challenge, he hoped "Sotheby's would defend its own reputation and handle the matter properly."

    Sotheby's did not respond to inquiries from the Sunday Morning Post.

    Liu said he had consulted experts about the authenticity of the calligraphy before he made his bid, but no doubts were raised. He also said he welcomed the experts' challenge.

    In an official posting on the website artsy.net three months ago, Sotheby's called Gong Fu Tie "a succinct yet remarkable calligraphy masterpiece."

    "Throughout its thousand-year history this manuscript has passed through the collections of many prominent artists and scholars ... whose inscription praised the piece to be a 'vivacious, timeless and divine work by Su', likening its charm to the beauty of a goddess."

    Gong Fu Tie, a farewell note by Su to a poet friend, has only nine characters. It reads: "Su Shi respectfully bids farewell to Gongfu, Gentleman Court Consultant."

    There was intense bidding when the piece went under the hammer on September 19. Six bidders pushed the price way above the pre-sale expectation of US$1 million.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #40
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    Wal-Mart in China has special problems

    Don't you hate it when you want some donkey and get fox instead?
    Wal-Mart Recalls Donkey Meat in China
    U.S. Retailer Says It Will Boost DNA Testing of Meat Products
    By Laurie Burkitt
    Updated Jan. 2, 2014 7:06 p.m. ET



    BEIJING— Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.22% is recalling donkey meat sold at some of its China stores after government tests showed the meat contained the DNA of other animals.

    The retailer said Thursday it will provide 50 yuan, or roughly $8.25, compensation to customers who bought the "Five Spice" donkey meat, and it is boosting DNA testing for meat products sold in its China stores. Authorities in China's eastern Shandong province said in late December that the retailer's product contained fox meat.

    A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the donkey meat—which is commonly consumed in Chinese cuisine—is sold in only two stores in Jinan, the capital of Shandong. Wal-Mart is working with authorities to investigate the product and its manufacturing process, she said, adding that the retailer may take legal action against its supplier.

    The Bentonville, Ark., company has come under fire in the past in China for alleged infractions. Last year, officials in the southern city of Nanning accused it of using expired eggs in baked goods.

    The Wal-Mart spokeswoman said that the issue was resolved, without elaborating.

    The company also is working with officials of the Chinese government to ensure that food manufacturers also monitor product safety, she added, as that oversight currently falls predominantly on the retailers.

    Wal-Mart has heightened its food-safety practices in China since a 2011 scandal in which officials in the southwestern city of Chongqing accused it of mislabeling regular pork as more-expensive organic meat. The incident led to the temporary closure of 13 stores, the arrest of two employees, the detention of 35 others and a fine of 3.65 million yuan ($602,730).

    Since then, Wal-Mart has overhauled management at its stores in Chongqing and implemented a new food-safety compliance system across the nation.

    The retailer also announced last year that it would invest 100 million yuan over three years to strengthen food-safety management in its China stores.

    Consumer trust in the Chinese food industry remains shaky even years after a 2008 scandal in which six babies died and 300,000 others were poisoned by drinking milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.

    The chemical was used to mimic the properties of protein in milk and enable producers to make higher profits by passing off more liquid as milk.

    Globally, consumers have been skeptical of the quality of meat products after a scandal last year revealed many products labeled as beef contained horse meat.

    China is an important growth market for Wal-Mart, which is China's No. 3 megamarket retailer by market share, according to the most recent data from market-research firm Euromonitor International.
    Gene Ching
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  11. #41
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    Sffcccks Coffee!

    So wait...this is a street of fake fakes?
    On this street in southern China, you can visit Starbucks Coffee - or rather, 'Sffcccks Coffee'
    A "street of fakes" in Wuxi has drawn ridicule and condemnation from Chinese netizens
    PUBLISHED : Thursday, 09 January, 2014, 7:08pm
    UPDATED : Friday, 10 January, 2014, 7:18am
    Jeremy Blum jeremy.blum@scmp.com


    It looks like Starbucks from a distance, but upon closer inspection, something is very off here. Photo: Chinanews.com

    A “street of fakes” has sprouted up in the southern Chinese city of Wuxi, featuring signs that flaunt modified names of famous international stores like Starbucks and Zara.

    On this commercial street, located near the Wuxi East Railway Station, clothing stores Zara and H&M have morphed into “Zare” and “H&N,” American electronics company Apple is "Appla," Starbucks Coffee has become the bizarre sounding “Sffcccks Coffee" and even the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has made an appearance – only with one of the characters of its Chinese name removed and replaced with another, rendering the name nonsensical.


    H&M, Zara and even the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have all undergone tiny tweaks to their names. Photo: Chinanews.com

    All of the store signs displaying these famous names are written in fonts that make them appear similar to the real deal from a distance, and China’s netizens have quickly taken to calling the area a “street of fakes” or a “shanzai street.” Shanzai is the Putonghua word for knock-off.

    “How could the people that put these signs up possibly be proud of such a thing?” one commentator wrote on Chinese news portal Wenxuecity.com. “They are completely ignorant of intellectual property rights.”

    Local reports claim that the stores displaying the shanzai signs are actually all empty, and the entire street is property available for purchase by shop owners or landlords. According to reports from internet portal Sohu.com, real estate representatives for the street told reporters that the signs were “pre-made advertising images designed to create a shopping atmosphere” and appeal to prospective property buyers.


    All of the shops on this "street of fakes" are empty, local reports claim. Photo: Chinanews.com

    “The real estate operators in charge are engaging in misleading behaviour and should stop this infringement,” said Zhao Jia, a local lawyer interviewed by Sohu.com.

    Despite this warning, copyright infringement is common in the mainland, and local stores and products have frequently copied the logos or fonts of international brands for recognition purposes. Photos of Chinese stores such as “KLG” (a chicken restaurant similar to international fast-food chain KFC) and “Sunbucks Coffee” (a coffee shop resembling Starbucks) have been virally shared on the internet for years.
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  12. #42
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    400+ Walmarts in China

    Wait....how can they be sure it wasn't a counterfeit Walmart?

    CCTV exposes unlicensed and fake goods at Chinese Walmarts
    Staff Reporter
    2014-01-27
    11:56 (GMT+8)


    A Walmart store in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China's Zhejiang province. (Photo/CNS)

    China's state-broadcaster CCTV has accused US retailer Walmart of bypassing quality and safety checks to fast-track products, some of which are unlicensed, to Chinese shelves.

    The four-minute CCTV report aired on Jan. 23 featured around 200 alleged company documents from as far back as 2006 showing that company managers signed off on more than 600 products that lacked the requisite paperwork for distribution. The unlicensed products even included fake products, including counterfeit versions of the Feitian Moutai Chinese liquor made by Kweichow Moutai, the CCTV report said.

    In response, Walmart, the world's No. 1 retailer, explained that it uses its "special approvals process" only in specific circumstances.

    "Our special approval process is used to accelerate listing items from suppliers we already do business with. The process requires three levels of management approval on an item by item, supplier by supplier basis. This ensures that we do not sell fake or inferior products nor we compromise the welfare or safety of our customers," the company said in a statement, adding they have "stopped selling hundreds of items" that fall short of customers' "quality expectation" over the past year.

    A former supermarket manager told the Chinese-language Beijing Times newspaper that these special approvals processes employed by companies such as Walmart is a form of corruption. A new product needs to go through a lot of administrative processes and paperwork to gain access to a supermarket, the manager said, suggesting that Walmart executives could be forgoing these requirements in exchange for some kind of personal benefit.

    This is not the first time Walmart, which has more than 400 stores in China and plans to open 110 more, has run into trouble on the mainland. Earlier this month, US retailer was forced to recall donkey meat sold at some Chinese outlets after tests showed the product contained traces of other animals, including the cheaper fox meat. In 2011, Walmart and France's Carrefour were fined a combined 9.5 million yuan (US$1.6 million) for manipulating product prices. Later that year the US retailer was fined again for selling duck meat past its expiry date.

    Walmart, however, is far from the only foreign brand to be criticized by CCTV. Other past subjects of negative reports include global coffee chain Starbucks, electronic giants Apple and Samsung, fast food chain KFC and carmakers Audi and Subaru.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #43
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    China's Colbert Report ripoff


  14. #44
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    That was great, Almost a Ghost.

    Luv Colbert.

    Meanwhile, bringing it back to America...

    $20M and counting: Feds tackle counterfeit goods ahead of Super Bowl
    By Cristina Corbin
    Published January 29, 2014
    FoxNews.com


    The ticket is fake, but its bar code is real enough to get a fan inside MetLife Stadium to see Peyton Manning lead the Broncos against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. (AP)

    The feds have already set a Super Bowl record -- by seizing some $20 million worth of phony gear smuggled in from all over the world as Sunday's game approaches.

    Fake tickets good enough to gain entry to MetLife Stadium, knock-off jerseys and even sex workers descending on the biggest event in American sports are all on the radar of the Department of Homeland Security. The agency has set up a 24-hour operation at JFK airport, where they are confiscating loads of unlicensed Super Bowl paraphernalia in advance of Sunday's game, FoxNews.com has learned.

    "We have seized upwards of $20 million worth of counterfeit merchandise, most of which is related to the Super Bowl," said Special Agent in Charge James T. Hayes of Homeland Security in New York. "We've executed 11 arrests so far and expect to make more in the coming days."

    Hayes said investigators have confiscated "thousands of pieces" of illegal merchandise, sent mostly from Asian countries like China. The fraudulent items include hats, jerseys and T-shirts made to look like they are officially endorsed by the National Football League for this year's Super Bowl game between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos as MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

    "If it’s produced, it’s being counterfeited."

    - James T. Hayes, DHS Special Agent in Charge

    "If it’s produced, it’s being counterfeited," Hayes said. "This is the perfect environment for counterfeiters because of street vendors," he said of New York City and areas surrounding the northern New Jersey stadium.

    Knock-off goods typically arrive in the U.S. by container ship, but with just two weeks between the Super Bowl and the playoff games that determine who competes in it, Seahawks and Broncos' gear is coming in by plane, in the suitcases of smugglers, officials said.

    Hayes and a team of investigators are opening up thousands of packages deemed "suspicious" to "make sure what is claimed is there," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Ubon Mendie. The NFL has also sent representatives to assist the DHS in determining what is official and what is fraudulent.

    "Even a savvy consumer can be fooled," Hayes said.

    Mendie noted that the government last year seized more than $17 million in of counterfeit goods related to the NFL's championship, meaning one Super Bowl record has already been broken.

    "We have eclipsed that this year," he told FoxNews.com.

    Also troubling DHS is the discovery of Super Bowl tickets with a working UPC code -- passes to the game that are hard to distinguish from legitimate tickets.

    "The fraudulent ticket schemes that are out there are getting pretty sophisticated," Mendie said. "The intricate systems that we're seeing now are not things we've seen in the past."

    "These tickets essentially have a photo-copied bar code," Hayes added.

    Hayes is urging the public to always purchase tickets through reputable vendors like Ticketmaster and StubHub for any sporting event.

    "You’ve got to use a legitimate vendor that guarantees that you're going to get a legitimate ticket no matter what," he said.

    DHS is also investigating cases of alleged human trafficking in which women and minors are crossing state lines to work as prostitutes during game weekend. Mendie said DHS has already identified suspects and plans to execute arrests "in the next few days."

    "We are seeing an influx of people being trafficked to the area," Mendie said. "This is always a problem that we constantly work to eradicate."

    Hayes said DHS has reached out to at least 20 hotels in the New York City area about how to identify "signs of a person being trafficked or held against their will."

    Hayes said most cases involve women over 18 and under who are foreign nationals -- sometimes unaware of U.S. law and often from countries "where law enforcement isn’t trusted."
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
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    48,777

    Bummer for James Bond

    See? See what happens when you go to China, Mr. Bond?

    5 February 2014 Last updated at 13:27 ET
    Aston Martin recalls 17,000 cars over possible defective part



    Aston Martin One-77 Aston Martin is based in Gaydon in Warwickshire

    Aston Martin is recalling more than 17,000 cars because of a potentially defective part.

    The Warwickshire-based luxury car maker said the recall accounted for most of its sports cars built since late 2007.

    It follows the discovery that a Chinese sub-supplier was allegedly using counterfeit plastic material in part of the accelerator pedal.

    There are fears the pedal arm may break although there have been no reports of any accidents, the firm said.

    A spokesman said it would now bring manufacture of the pedal arm back to the UK.
    'Get it replaced'

    The firm is recalling a total of 17,590 cars - 1,553 in the UK - including all of its left-hand-drive models built since November 2007 and all right-hand-drive models built since May 2012, affecting about 75% of all cars built in those periods.

    The recall applies to all cars apart from the new Vanquish coupe and Volante models.

    "Customer safety is very important and to change the pedal takes less than an hour, so take the car and get it replaced is what we're saying," the spokesman said.

    "It's very important to say that there have not been any incidents or accidents."
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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