[kictanet] eBay hit with £30m fine for sales of fake luxuries

[Brian Munyao Longwe]

Good points Wes. But *if* I do own a designer set of Louis Vutton  
suitcases. Then decide that they are the wrong "shade of pink" (as  
many of these rich folk do). Then I have a right advertise it in order  
to find a buyer. That right includes *identifying* the merchandise.  
Maybe something like 6 matched Louis Vutton suitcases, never used.

What the aristo-brats are saying is that I shouldn't even use their  
name if Iwakt to sell the stuff.

Thieves!

:-)

B

Sent from my iPhone

On 06 Jul 2008, at 11:05 AM, wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com>  
wrote:

> "...However, once I buy the product, and *pay them dearly for it*  
> does the product *belong* to me? I say yes!..."
> "...So, since I own it. Can I do whatever I want with it? Pour it  
> down the toilet, give it to my watchman, give it as a prize for best  
> 'whatever' in my son's school, or even sell it if I want to  
> recapture some of the price premium I paid for the brand..."
>
> (Note: I'm not a lawyer nor do I know exactly what the law says  
> about this)
>
> If by *belong* you mean it's mine and I can mess and tear it up the  
> way I want then some products might not *belong* to you. E.g. I read/ 
> heard somewhere that you can't open up the XBox. It has something to  
> do with Microsoft protecting technology. Another popular example is  
> software. License agreements come with restrictions.
>
> Basically a product is composed of a number of things: The branding  
> and logos which are trademarked, the intellectual property and  
> technology which are patented, and all these don't *belong* to you  
> even if you paid for the product (Also note that the price you paid  
> includes the cost of researching the patented technology and  
> branding and logo costs but still they will not belong to you). What  
> belongs to the consumer is being able to consume the product how  
> it's the manufacturer advises you to consume it otherwise your  
> warranty is void.
>
> Because of the variety of products that exist in the world today  
> this *belong* issue is a debate and that's one of the reasons open  
> source exists.
>
> As the E-bay spokesperson said it's more about manufacturers trying  
> to keep a certain image. Counterfeits existed before ebay. Ebay has  
> an image of being a place to find goods at an affordable price  
> (depending on quality) but luxury brands are not associated with  
> this sort of image.
>
> 8~)
>
> --- On Sun, 7/6/08, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] eBay hit with £30m fine for sales of fake lu 
> xuries
> To: kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 4:48 AM
>
> Oh my, oh my, oh my,
>
> I have serious issues with this action.
>
> I think it goes directly against the individual right of the consumer.
> PLs allow me to elaborate.
>
> First, let's set the issue of counterfeit aside and consider the
> context that has been set.
>
> Louis Vutton, Christian Dior, Hermes etc consider themselves exclusive
> brands that cater to the upper echelons of society. Fine, any vendor)
>
> of any product can pick his/her target market/niche and position/brand
> appropriately.
>
> However, once I buy the product, and *pay them dearly for it* does the
> product *belong* to me? I say yes! Even a court of law will uphold my
> ownership right if I have 'proof of purchase'.
>
> So, since I own it. Can I do whatever I want with it? Pour it down the
> toilet, give it to my watchman, give it as a prize for best 'whatever'
>
> in my son's school, or even sell it if I want to recapture some of the
> price premium I paid for the brand.
>
> What these aristo-brats are saying is that I cannot advertise it on
> Digger classifieds in the Standard, the Sarit center billboard, ebay,
> yahoo shops,or my personal website because none of them is part of the
> dealer network.
>
> This is totally wrong!
>
> Now back to counterfeit. Yes, there is a problem, but how do you
> accuse a trading platform of
>  complicity in a case where the market is
> Internet Based and allows anyone, anywhere in the world to advertise
> and sell anything for any price?
>
> There should be other measures taken to dig out counterfeits and
> protect the firms' investments in creation of their brands. There are
> laws, and procedures for this.
>
> What these guys have done to ebay is classic case of shooting the
> messenger.
>
> Am I the only one aggravated by this?
>
> Brian
>
> Ps France should have a 'FICTANET' to make noise about this.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 05 Jul 2008, at 9:17 PM, alice <alice at apc.org> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > interesting ruling by French courts on 30th June....of E-commerce  
> and
> > brand protection, advertisement consumer protection and so many  
> other
> > issues.
> >
> > best
> > alice
> >
> >
> >
>  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/01/ebay.hitechcrime
> >
> > eBay hit with £30m fine for sales of fake luxuries
> >
> >
> > The world's biggest online auctioneer, eBay, was ordered by a French
> > court yesterday to pay €38.6m euros in damages to the luxury goods 
>  g
> > roup
> > LVMH for negligence in allowing the sale of fake bags, lipsticks and
> > designer clothes.
> >
> > The fine of more than £30m is the biggest eBay has faced in Europe 
>  a
> > nd
> > is the latest episode in a series of long-running legal battles it  
> has
> > fought with fashion and cosmetic giants.
> >
> > The site immediately appealed against the ruling and said luxury  
> goods
> > giants were using the issue of fakes as a "stalking horse" to
> attack
> > online commerce and keep a stranglehold of sales outlets to the
> > detriment of consumers.
> >
> > The confrontation has
>  implications for the access of online shoppers
> > to
> > luxury brands through auction sites and also for eBay's business  
> model
> > as it faces the issue of how to police its platform of global sites,
> > which at any one time have about 100m items for sale across the  
> world.
> >
> > The issue has particular resonance in France - the base for some of
> > the
> > world's biggest luxury goods companies, who have placed themselves  
> at
> > the forefront of fighting counterfeit.
> >
> > The French company LVMH, the world's leading luxury brand, went to  
> the
> > Paris commercial courts demanding €50m in damages over two issues: 
>  f
> > irst
> > it argued that eBay had committed "serious errors" by not doing
> enough
> > to prevent the sales of fake goods in 2006, including Louis Vuitton
> > bags
> > and Christian Dior products; it also argued that eBay had allowed
> > unauthorised
>  sales of perfume brands owned by the group: Christian
> > Dior,
> > Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain.
> >
> > It said that even if the perfumes were real and not fake, their sale
> > on
> > the site violated Christian Dior's distribution network which only
> > allowed sales through specialist dealers. The court ordered eBay to
> > stop
> > selling the perfumes or running ads for the brands, or face a fine  
> of
> > €50,000 a day.
> >
> > The ruling ordered eBay to pay €19.28m to Louis Vuitton Malletier 
>  a
> > nd
> > €17.3m to its sister company Christian Dior Couture for damage to  
> th
> > eir
> > brand images and causing moral harm. It must also pay €3.25m to t 
> he
> > four
> > perfume brands for sales in violation of its authorised network.
> >
> > Pierre Gode, an aide to Bernard Arnault, the LVMH president and
> > France's
> > richest man, told AFP: "It is
>  a major first, because of the
> principles
> > that it recognises and the amount sought." He said the decision was
> > crucial for the creative industry and "protected brands by
> considering
> > them an important part of French heritage".
> >
> > The ruling comes a month after another French court ordered eBay to
> > pay
> > the fashion house Hermes €20,000 for allowing the sale of counter 
> fe
> > it
> > handbags.
> >
> > The site said it had stepped up its measures to prevent  
> counterfeiting
> > since 2006 and now spends $20m (£10m) a year keeping the site "cle 
> an
>
> > ",
> > using programmes to analyse suspicious sales and working with the
> > owners
> > of brand rights. Last year, 2m items suspected of being counterfeit
> > were
> > removed from the site and 50,000 sales stopped. Vanessa Canzini, an
> > eBay
> > spokeswoman in Europe said: "The big issue
>  here doesn't seem to
> be
> > to do
> > with counterfeiting - if it was, they would have gone after the
> > counterfeiters. It's about saying we are a luxury brand, we don't
> want
> > others selling our goods, even if they are real. That's why we will
> > appeal this decision."
> >
> > In a statement, eBay said big luxury goods labels had a hidden  
> agenda
> > and were using fakes as a "stalking horse". "It is clear
> that eBay has
> > become a focal point for certain brand owners' desire to exact ever
> > greater control over e-commerce. We view these decisions as a step
> > backwards for the consumers and businesses whom we empower every
> day."
> >
> > The group, which saw around $60bn worth of goods sold across its
> > platforms last year, says that as a host for independent vendors, it
> > has
> > a limited responsibility and capacity to regulate what is sold. But
> > luxury
>  goods groups have accused eBay, which earns a commission on
> > sales, of facilitating forgeries and fakes by providing a  
> marketplace
> > for vendors who knowingly sell counterfeit items.
> >
> > The site is also facing other lawsuits worldwide: the New York
> > jeweller
> > Tiffany & Co has sued the site for turning a blind eye to sales of
> > counterfeits, describing it as a "rat's nest" of fake goods.
> It also
> > faces action from L'Oreal in the UK and five other European  
> countries.
> >
> >
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