Copyright Piracy

 When countries change from a subsistence economy to a more advanced one, people have more money and buy material goods. Whether South Africans and Russians, or Brazilians and Canadians, many people want to have modern fashion trends or state-of-the-art technology. However, some people receive these goods for a fraction of the cost by buying counterfeit products on the black market. 

 Visiting Dongdaemun Market in Seoul or walking down Khao San Road in Bangkok provides opportunities. People can purchase fake items like Rolex watches, Callaway golf clubs and Microsoft software. The quality of these knock-offs is second-to-none and it is nearly impossible to know the difference between authentic and imitation items. 

 Police officers usually turn a blind eye to these sales instead of stamping out such illegal activity. The companies who produce real goods worry about their product quality, brand image, and profit. Buying counterfeit products allows customers to just pay $5-10 for name-brand items. However, the product quality is also less. For example, a name-brand shirt might last for around a year, but the fake good sells for less and only lasts for about six months. Or, a golf company may produce golf clubs that last for several years, but the fake golf clubs are less expensive and might only last for a few seasons. This hurts brand image because the consumers could start thinking that the real company's goods have poor quality like the imitation ones. 

 Additionally, counterfeit items can decrease revenue for corporations. Major companies advertise with the belief that people will purchase their goods. This would allow the company to profit and to spend some of this money on research and development (R&D) for future products. By people selling and others buying knock-offs the company loses revenue from lower sales of their real products. The sellers gain by making money without advertising and the buyers gain by paying less for goods. 

 subsistence economy = economy of agricultural activity, minimum day-to-day work or economy to maintain life (e.g. food) 

material goods = physical items of value (eg. clothes and televisions) 

state-of-the-art = most modern and up-to-date 

counterfeit = something that appears real, but is fake 

authentic = real, genuine 

brand image = reputation of company 

name-brand = a business name that has a high reputation 

last = remain in good condition and can be used 

a fraction of = a smaller portion or amount of (something) 

knock-offs = fakes, imitations 

second-to-none = better than any other in value and excellence 

turn a blind eye = see but do not do anything, ignore 

stamping out = stopping, eliminating