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The sale of fake goods on the internet is a growing - and global - problem according to the Alliance Against IP (Intellectual Property) Theft.

More and more people - claim the Alliance - are being caught out by fraudsters and criminals, selling all manner of counterfeit and pirated products. They include: DVDs, CDs, computer games, business software, books, and assorted branded goods.

This statement follows an attempt by brand protection managers from the clothing, footwear and media industries to spend one day on internet auction site eBay, visiting auctions that appeared to be selling their goods at knock-down prices.

The results included:

One brand finding 50% of the sales they investigated involved infringing products

Another company finding counterfeit goods of its brand totalling over £5000 (at the bid ‘fake’ price)

Hundreds of pirated music products being uncovered, worth thousands of pounds at the bid ‘fake’ price

Over 600 pirate DVDs and other film related product from 39 individual sellers being removed from sale

Ruth Orchard, Vice Chair of the Alliance and Director General of the Anti Counterfeiting Group said: “The message is clear - buyers beware. In cyberspace, fakers can vanish with your cash in seconds. ‘Real’ markets up and down the country have long provided a profitable outlet for fake goods of all kinds. Internet buyers seem to believe they are visiting a great new kind of car boot sale, full of fantastic bargains. But we frequently hear from buyers that, when the item they purchased in good faith arrives, and turns out to be fake, it is impossible to find the seller or obtain a refund. We urge consumers to take extra care when buying online, from whatever source”.

In 2005 the BPI anti piracy unit removed 57,463 infringing items from eBay. 2006 has already seen over 168,000 items removed by the BPI

Around the time this excercise was carried out (June 2006) the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) had already removed over 175,000 items on over 14,000 infringing listings pages from auction sites - including from eBay

In the eight months between August 2005 and March 2006, Microsoft took down 43,159 auctions from eBay

According to auction site eBay only a very small percentage of its sales involve any fake goods.

Follow this link to read the extensive research carried out by the University of Central Lancashire on behalf of the Alliance Against IP Theft: Fake Nation - which looks at modern attitudes to IP theft in the UK.

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