Luxury goods maker Kering sues Alibaba over counterfeit products
Luxury product maker Kering, which includes brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, has again filed suit against Alibaba for aiding the sales of counterfeit versions of its products. The Paris-based firm withdrew a similar complaint in August 2014 after the Chinese tech giant agreed to work.
But that effort hasn’t been successful enough for Kering. “This lawsuit is part of Kering’s ongoing global effort to maintain its customers’ trust in its genuine products and to continue to develop the creative works and talents in its brands,” the company said in a statement.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/05/17/kering-sues-alibaba-over-counterfeit-goods/27493425/
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Alibaba Reveals a New Kind of QR Code to Fight Counterfeits
CHINESE E-COMMERCE GIANT Alibaba has a fake goods problem. The company knows it, and the Chinese government has made abundantly clear it knows, too. Now, to combat counterfeits, the company has come up with a solution: Slap unique QR code-like tags on every product.
Today, in conjunction with the Israeli startupVisualead, Alibaba debuted what it’s calling dotless visual codes. The codes resemble traditional QR codes with patterns of dots in all four corners. Unlike QR codes, Alibaba’s version can include images in the middle of the code, which can help with more visual branding efforts, says Nevo Alva, cofounder and CEO of Visualead.
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/alibaba-reveals-retro-way-fight-counterfeits-qr-codes/
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Help Us Fight Fakes, Alibaba’s Security Chief Tells Global Brands
When it comes to fighting fakes, Alibaba’s head of internet security says cooperation beats the courtroom any day. Ni Liang, who runs the Hangzhou, China-based company’s anti-counterfeiting operations, was speaking to Reuters days after Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other luxury brands owned by Paris-based Kering SA sued Alibaba in New York, alleging the e-commerce giant had knowingly made it possible for counterfeiters to sell fakes.
Ni said brands had a better chance of succeeding in clamping down on the pervasive counterfeit trade if they talked to Alibaba, instead of suing it.
http://recode.net/2015/05/18/help-us-fight-fakes-alibabas-security-chief-tells-global-brands/
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Counterfeit make-up is risking lives, say police
Human urine, cyanide and rats’ droppings are just a handful of poisonous ingredients found in fake beauty products hitting the U.K., according to findings announced by the City of London Police. It is estimated by the police that consumers in the U.K. spend at least £90 million ($141 million) each year on fake cosmetics, and this total is expected to rise dramatically as consumers shift more towards online shopping.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102687332
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You’ll never guess what’s in these fake cosmetics!
Human urine, cyanide and rats’ droppings are just a handful of poisonous ingredients found in fake beauty products hitting the U.K., according to findings announced by the City of London Police.
It is estimated by the police that consumers in the U.K. spend at least £90 million ($141 million) each year on fake cosmetics, and this total is expected to rise dramatically as consumers shift more towards online shopping.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102687332
Lear MoreCigarettes smuggled from Georgia, Northern Iraq, Bulgaria
Smuggled cigarettes arrive in Turkey from Georgia, northern Iraq and Bulgaria, while there are large sums of money being transferred from the eastern parts of Turkey to Istanbul in line with smuggling activities, according to recent data from Turkey’s financial crime investigation board (MASAK), daily Milliyet has reported.
Additionally, close ties were detected between some of the smugglers and extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Europe, according to the report.
Former police boss arrested with 1,800 illegal packets of cigarettes in La Linea
A FORMER police boss has been arrested for smuggling 1,800 illegal packets of cigarettes into Spain.
The ex-chief of La Linea local police was picked up with the contraband, which had a street value of €7,931, stuffed inside suitcases in the boot of his car. Malaga police had been monitoring the retired officer’s vehicle and made the bust after he picked up the load from a garage in La Linea.
Anti-graft panel zooms in on Sabah
From clamping down on illegal logging in Sarawak, the country’s graftbusters have moved on to Sabah, where they froze 1,623 accounts worth half a billion ringgit in a crackdown against the smuggling of subsidised diesel, cigarettes and liquor. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said besides the frozen accounts worth RM560mil, it seized over RM1mil in cash and jewellery in the operation codenamed “BS”. Its investigation director Datuk Mohamad Jamidin Abdullah said raids were carried out at 43 locations in Tawau, Sandakan, Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and Semporna at the same time.
Lear MoreAlibaba Sued Over Alleged Counterfeits
BEIJING—The owner of several of the world’s best-known luxury brands has filed a fresh lawsuit against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the latest challenge to the Chinese e-commerce giant’s assertions that it fights the sale of counterfeit goods on its platforms.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan by Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands owned by Paris-based Kering SA, indicates that the company is unsatisfied with Alibaba’s efforts to address the problem of counterfeiting of its brands.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/alibaba-sued-over-alleged-counterfeits-1431877734
Lear MoreTobacco, the cause of fights
Raju (name changed), a 19-year-old boy, was acquitted in a murder case two months ago. “Boys inside the jail fight mostly because of tobacco. They all want to smoke and chew tobacco, and for this they can do anything. They can smuggle it inside by hiding in their stomach or other body cavities, or can fight with someone if they don’t get it,” he said.
He said that most of the fights in jail happen because of tobacco.
“Inmates have told the jail authorities many times to make tobacco available inside the jail to stop crime. They also said that if they just got tobacco, none of the drugs like heroine, cocaine and hash would be smuggled inside. But the authorities never agree to this because they are making a lot of money by smuggling tobacco to prisoners.”
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/tobacco-the-cause-of-fights/article7215521.ece
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