Infringement of intellectual property rights has been rampant on the Internet through online sales. Imitation of high-tech products have grown in volume. The number of fake fashion labels (clothing, leather goods, watches, perfumes, cosmetics), as well as fake mobile phones, MP3 players, software, and storage media has increased by way more than 100 percent in one year. Counterfeit Apple grew by 328 percent, Microsoft by 295 percent, and Nintendo by 133 percent. In communication devices, the BlackBerry has been victimized more brutally in recent months.

Apple leads the ranking of the most pirated products, followed by perfumes and cosmetics. Most notably counterfeited, too, are Microsoft, Nike, Sony, Nokia, Playboy, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, and Burberry.

These fake products are not stopped before being sold. The missing link seems to be the stage of manufacture of counterfeits, even before they reach the Internet platform. The Internet and other platforms for electronic commerce are the preferred place for acquiring counterfeit products by sellers who then try to resell these items. Nearly 25 percent of these fake goods are directly supplied from a Chinese site.

At one instance a few months ago, it was revealed by U.S. and Canadian customs agencies that the counterfeiting of Chinese syndicates of goods have gone past luxury items and DVDs. In 2008, 74,000 counterfeit Cisco Systems, Inc. high-tech products coming from China were seized. The haul was worth more than $76 million.

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Via About.com