the true cost of buying fakes

5th LEVEL – READING AND SPEAKING EOI REUS

THE TRUE COST OF BUYING FAKES

The market in counterfeit goods has now become the biggest illicit sector in the world, eclipsing the drugs trade. It is the fastest growing crime-wave in the world. Just a decade ago, the global market in counterfeit goods was worth just £3 billion a year - today, it is worth more than 100 times more.

Three million people bought counterfeit clothes, sunglasses, handbags, watches and jewellery in Britain alone last year - part of a business, which is strong enough not to be affected by the most brutal economic storm.

A-list stars - such as Renee Zellwegger, Jennifer Lopez and Nelly Furtado, have all been seen with fake designer sunglasses, dresses or bags, even though they could easily afford the real items.

Police and Western intelligence agencies say that brutal organised crime syndicates now monopolise the trade. In other words, anyone who buys a fake Prada bag or knockoff Gucci sunglasses is the final link in a chain that includes criminals involved in extortion, prostitution, people-smuggling, murder and even terrorism.

Fake clothes, handbags, watches, perfumes, videos, CDs and computer programmes - you name it, criminals will copy it. And these goods now represent an astonishing one-tenth of all global trade.

In Britain, the bulk of counterfeiting is controlled by British crime bosses, often with overseas connections to Chinese Triads, Italian Mafia, Serbian gangsters and Far Eastern crime syndicates.

5th LEVEL – READING AND SPEAKING EOI REUS

Three-quarters of counterfeit items seized in Britain last year came from factories in China, 'staffed' by children paid as little as £10 a week and working up to 18 hours a day. Since their fingers are small, they are better at the intricate stitching that makes fake designer items look so convincing.

By day, some factories even produce genuine designer goods destined for sale in the top boutiques of London, Paris, New York and Rome. By night, some corrupt factory bosses bring in a 'night shift' to make fakes.

According to reports by aid workers, Chinese officials regularly accept bribes from factory bosses to turn a blind eye to child exploitation. Raids are seldom carried out.

With the penalties for smuggling counterfeit goods far lower than for importing drugs, many crime gangs are using their sophisticated network of supply routes and middlemen to flood the market with fakes.

Worried about the assault on their profits, designers such as Burberry and Adidas have now set up special units to fight back. As well as trawling internet sites for fake copies of their designs, some have also hired teams of forensic accountants to try to trace the money back to the leaders of the operation.

DISCUSS IN GROUPS: DO YOU AGREE?

1. People who buy counterfeit goods must be prepared to accept the wider moral implications of what they are doing. When deciding to buy fakes, they are just thinking about themselves and what they want - they are not thinking about the cost in terms of violence, criminality and loss to others.

2. In our society, businesses are established overnight and vanish just as quickly. Stalls and shoppers come and go in a flash. Nobody can be sure who their neighbour is, or who his associates are or where the money goes.

3. Even if a seller and his fake goods were tracked down, another would spring up in his place. Quite simply, the trade has grown too big to monitor, let alone abolish.