世界遭遇中国山寨难题

    “你认为哪个是真的Beats耳机，哪个是山寨货？”这是英国少年杰克•吉尔伯特在一段视频里的旁白。他在YouTube的TechFusions频道发布了这段视频，Beats耳机就是说唱歌星Dr. Dre戴的那种非常昂贵的耳机。吉尔伯特和这段视频里的嘉宾最后总结说，这两款耳机看起来几乎一模一样。

    视频中黑色的那个耳机价值430美元，它也深受勒布朗•詹姆斯和贾斯汀•比伯等明星的喜爱。另一个白色的耳机只值90美元。对于总价值可能高达480亿美元的“山寨机海”来说，它只能算是其中的一滴水罢了。

    山寨是一个全球性的问题，而且这个问题已经存在很多年了。但是科技的发展使这个问题愈演愈烈，而且严重恶化，背后原因可管窥一斑。在那段视频结尾，吉尔伯特和另一个主持人对那些想买正版Beats耳机的人警告说，尽量不要在eBay上购买。

    科技的发展使卖山寨产品的商家有了理直气壮要高价的机会，同时互联网也使山寨产品的销售变得更容易了。打造一个貌似口碑不错的网站是件很容易的事，这是在纽约运河街卖手机和苹果配件的商家永远都不能比的。而且有些“克隆”网站也经常让消费者上当，让他们以为自己以很低的价钱买到了正品。

    纽约城市大学（City University of New Yor）的教授艾伦•齐默尔曼曾经撰写过大量关于山寨产品的文章，他指出：“山寨是一个非常暴利的行业。可以以很低的成本进入这个行业，而且就算哪天被抓住了，受罚的成本与其它违法行为相比也是很低的。”他还表示，海关和边检部门几乎无法阻止山寨的泛滥。根据齐默尔曼的计算，全球海关部门大概只截货了所有进口山寨商品的十分之一。

    在去年美国海关和边防检查部门截获的山寨产品中，有84%来自中国大陆或香港。经常帮助各大品牌打击山寨产品的律师路易斯•费欧彻鲍姆把中国称为生产山寨商品的“狂野西部”，并表示中国政府没有持续地打击山寨产品，保护知识产权。

    随着技术的推陈出新，许多之前的型号也渐渐过时，那么各大品牌是否还有必要花时间打击已经过时的山寨产品？对于这个问题，费欧彻鲍姆认为：“这个问题并不因为出了一款新产品就不存在了。”首先，山寨厂商的动作也很快。最近他的一个客户打算推出一款新产品，但正品尚未推出，山寨货就已经上市了。另外许多公司在销售新品的同时，也会继续折价销售老款产品。因此，费欧彻鲍姆说：“山寨给各大品牌带来的损害一直存在。”他还表示，山寨产品还可能使消费者面临潜在危险，比如电池爆炸或其它原因引起的火灾都是常见风险。

    "We want to know what you think is the real or the replica Beats," says the voice off camera, belonging to Jack Gilbert, a British teen hosting a segment on his YouTube channel, TechFusions. He's talking about Beats by Dr. Dre luxury headphones. Gilbert and his co-host conclude that they look almost identical.

    The black pair on screen goes for $430 and is worn by the likes of LeBron James and Justin Bieber. The other is white, costs $90 and is part of a $48 billion problem.

    Counterfeiting is a global issue and has been for years. Technology has just made it worse, much worse. And here's a clue as to why. Gilbert and his co-host sign off with a warning to viewers that want to buy a real pair -- avoid buying on eBay (EBAY). "That's a massive mistake lots of people make. Because a lot of the time they think it's real, but actually, they're not," says Gilbert.

    Technology has given counterfeiters the ability to make convincing electronic rip-offs -- fast -- while the Internet has made it easier to buy counterfeit products. Websites can be made to look reputable in a way that a sleazy middleman selling Air Phones and Apple-a-likes on Canal Street never could. And doppelganger websites frequently dupe customers into thinking they're getting the real deal, even at a fraction of the price.

    "It's a very profitable business," says Alan Zimmerman, a professor at The City University of New York who's written extensively about the impact of counterfeit goods on companies and the economy. "You can get into business at very low cost, and the penalties if you get caught are very small compared to other illegal activities." He adds that it's almost impossible for Customs and Border Protection to stop the problem. Zimmerman has calculated that customs agencies worldwide seize approximately one-tenth of one percent of total imports.

    Eighty-four percent of counterfeit goods seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2012 came from China or Hong Kong. Louis Feuchtbaum, a lawyer who helps brands fight fakes, refers to China as the "wild west for manufacturing counterfeit products." He describes a government that fails to consistently deter counterfeits and enforce intellectual property rights.

    With new innovations rendering previous models obsolete, should brands spend their time fighting outdated counterfeits? "The problem doesn't go away merely because there's a new product," says Feuchtbaum. For one thing, counterfeiters act fast. One of his clients recently had a product counterfeited before it even went onto the market. Older products also often remain in the supply chain as companies continue to sell different versions, with the older model at a discount. "Then there's the everlasting damage done to brands by counterfeits," he says, adding that fakes also put consumers in physical danger. He cites exploding batteries and other fire hazards as common risks..