$7,000 fine for sharing / pirating an ebook

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by Apache

I do this for a living and the majority of these are very substandard, especially the movements.

I agree, by all means. I'm just saying that fakes do exist which are indistinguishable from the real thing to all but an expert.

High end knockoffs are extremely rare in the watch business.

The reason they're rarely seen is that the people who buy "good" fakes, which cost several hundred dollars, know their stuff and certainly know not to bring their watches to just any watchmaker. As with all things counterfeit there are plenty forums out there, full of information, where watches are dissected, reviewed and judged and where information is shared on where to find watchmakers who will happily work on fakes. Only the idiots will take their fakes to the first and best place for service.

Don't get me wrong I think most high end watches are over priced.

Ridiculously so, given that they're generally no better than the best fakes. To get a watch that is genuinely special you basically have to be prepared to part with what I earn in 6 months or so, which certainly isn't an option (or even a desire) in my case.

Anyway, that's probably more than enough watch-related OT. Pardon the derailment.

[Phogg]

Blah.
sigh.

[kennyc]

Well, that'll teach 'em!

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Actually, the free market is a bit of a contradiction in this respect. You are right: a free market doesn't have artificial restrictions like patents, copyrights, or trademarks. On the other hand, the free market also depends upon property rights. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks are exactly that -- property rights. Unfortunately, this contradiction is going to become more and more acute as these intellectual properties (and yes, I hate that term) become less and less entangled with their physical counterparts.

They are not <property> rights. They are a limited term, expiring, government granted, monopolies.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Anyway, that's probably more than enough watch-related OT. Pardon the derailment.

Apache

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

When they say that the court "entered a default judgement" does that mean that the defendant didn't turn up for the case?

Yes. If you don't show up, you loose by default.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Can one really call an ebook, regardless of origin, a knockoff?

I wouldn't think so. The trademark part of this seems a bit dubious.

However, since the defendant didn't show up and the judge made a default ruling, the merits of the suit never really came up. The judge isn't ruling that the claimant "won", he's just ruling that the defendant automatically lost for not responding to the summons.

[sun surfer]

Without getting into the merits of the lawsuit, at least $7,000 is a much more reasonable amount than the hundreds of thousands or millions that some who torrented music or films have been fined after refusing to settle and going to court in the U.S. I think in music or films it was (or is) something like, settle for $5,000 or go to court and be fined a ridiculously high amount.

Originally Posted by teh603

It also illustrates one of the bigger lies of capitalism, that in a free market the cost of purchase will approach that of production.

Designer brands are not necessities. I see no problem in a society with exorbitantly priced items if the demand is there, so long as essentials or other brands are available at reasonable prices as well.

It is only when those more essential things start to be priced out of many people's ranges that a problem would occur, but with a capitalistic society that usually doesn't happen because demand would then decrease too much, or someone else would fill the hole in demand left by those who can't buy what's already available by offering a similar item that's more affordable.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Designer brands are not necessities. I see no problem in a society with exorbitantly priced items if the demand is there, so long as essentials or other brands are available at reasonable prices as well.

It is only when those more essential things start to be priced out of many people's ranges that a problem would occur, but with a capitalistic society that usually doesn't happen because demand would then decrease too much, or someone else would fill the hole in demand left by those who can't buy what's already available by offering a similar item that's more affordable.

"Necessities" seems to be defined as that which is required to maintain your standard of living. Who here would try to live without air conditioning, especially where I live? And if they did, who would really be willing to face the onslaught of criticism from their neighbors and homeowners' association?

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by teh603

"Necessities" seems to be defined as that which is required to maintain your standard of living. Who here would try to live without air conditioning, especially where I live? And if they did, who would really be willing to face the onslaught of criticism from their neighbors and homeowners' association?

Leaving aside the fact that probably the vast majority of people on this site don't have air conditioning, I just need to ask why on earth neighbours would criticise you for not having it?

I don't even know what a homeowners association is.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by teh603

"Necessities" seems to be defined as that which is required to maintain your standard of living. Who here would try to live without air conditioning, especially where I live? And if they did, who would really be willing to face the onslaught of criticism from their neighbors and homeowners' association?

What does air-conditioning have to do with it? I thought we were discussing expensive designer items and their rip-offs.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

... The reason they're rarely seen is that the people who buy "good" fakes, which cost several hundred dollars, know their stuff and...

Where can I get one of these '"good" fakes, which cost several hundred dollars' that is indistinguishable from a $7,000 Rolex except by an expert?

[Belfaborac]

I don't think I mentioned Rolex anywhere. Anyway, I only have the generalities, not the particulars and even if I did I wouldn't pass it on.

[DarkScribe]

Fake and counterfeit are not the same thing. I could make a fake copy of anything, perhaps for my own amusement, it doesn't become a counterfeit unless I attempt to pass it off as being real.

[Belfaborac]

True dat. The purveyors and connoisseurs themselves prefer to the term replica. Either way I'm sure no-one's confused as to what the words entail.