Counterfeits Could Be Killing the US Economy

I believe it is ironic that karaoke machines that were pretending to be something they were not were seized by the Feds in a raid that netted nearly $1 million of counterfeit contraband.

The Washington Post reported, "An electronics importer is singing the blues after federal officials in Los Angeles seized a nearly $1 million shipment of karaoke machines with bogus brand-name labels."

Customs officials reported that more than 1,900 machines were confiscated. Does anyone else see the humor here? Karaoke is when the original is replaced with a sound-alike. So, in essence, the counterfeit karaoke machines are replacing the originals. Yikes '" I didn't realize that Karaoke was still such a hot attraction and worldwide it is still drawing huge crowds '" especially in Asia.

In 2010, the NY Times reported that singing the karaoke version in the Philippines of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" has resulted in barroom brawls, fistfights and stabbings. There have been so many people who have been hurt performing "My Way" that the police in the Philippines have dubbed the events, "My Way Killings." You can read the NY Times report here.

According to IC Trends, "the US Department of Commerce; counterfeiting accounts for 8% of all global merchandise and can account for up to $1.2 trillion in lost sales." Over one trillion dollars in lost sales!

The Daily Finance reports that because American consumers love a bargain, "U.S. companies lose at least hundreds of millions of dollars a year in sales from products that are counterfeited overseas and shipped to America." Just who is the largest foreign country of origin for counterfeits? According to the DF, "Goods from China accounted for 79% of all contraband." The price of a bargain could be killing the US economy.

The bogus branded karaoke machines were being held at the port of call by customs officials. There is no word of what will become of the cache of counterfeits but you can bet that the custom officials were singing out loud,
"We did it OUR way!"

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/world/asia/07karaoke.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/karaoke-machines-counterfeit-chips-port-long-beach.html

http://www.ictrends.com/blog/bid/43247/How-Big-is-the-Counterfeit-Electronic-Components-Problem

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/03/14/the-10-most-counterfeited-products-sold-in-america/