Corporations and Counterfeit Goods

Joiner, Caroline. Various-Counterfeit-Products. 2008. Accessed
26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/
shopping/shopping-tips/counterfeit-products-1-08/overview/
counterfeit-ov.htm>

Recently competition in international markets has become fierce.  This strong competitiveness can result in excellent business achievements but it can also result in counterfeiting.  According to the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement counterfeiting is the making or selling of unauthorized copies of merchandise (par 15).  The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement also says that all counterfeit goods are have a counterfeit mark which is a false mark used on goods and services that is identical and indistinguishable from the genuine mark (par 15).  This means that counterfeit products could easily reach the general public causing people to be confused and afraid to buy certain things because they think it might be fake.  It also illustrates the importance that corporations have in controlling the flow of products within their company to make sure that no counterfeit goods enter their system.  In addition the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement declares that most counterfeiting occurs in less developed countries or in flea markets (par 17).  This means that if somebody wants to be sure that they are buying the real thing then they need to buy it from a well known legitimate company.  Counterfeiting is a big business in the world’s economy today.   According to the Progressive Policy Institute the worldwide sales of counterfeit goods is $650 billion per year (par 3).  The Progressive Policy Institute also says that the U.S. seizes over $100 million worth of counterfeit goods at ports each year (par 3).  This means that counterfeiting is spreading to more developed countries and could disrupt the U.S. economy.  If a product is priced well below what it should be then it is probably counterfeit.  However counterfeiters are becoming increasingly cleverer and pricing their counterfeit products close to the actual price of the real thing and using new technology to place better counterfeit marks on their products.  Counterfeiting is only going to get more and more difficult to detect as time goes by so corporations need to do their job to protect their customers by making sure that they do not let any counterfeit goods into their stores. 

Works Cited

Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement. AGMA Counterfeiting FAQ. 2009. 26 April 2011 <http://www.agmaglobal.org/resources/faq.shtml>.

Joiner, Caroline. Various-Counterfeit-Products. 2008. Accessed 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/shopping/shopping-tips/counterfeit-products-1-08/overview/counterfeit-ov.htm>

Progressive Police institute. Worldwide Market for Counterfeit Goods: $650 billion. 14 June 2006. 26 April 2001 <http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=253907>.

Corporations and Price Fixing

Cannone, Brian. dollar-sign. 2009. Accessed 14 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/access/upside-
leverage-fitness-marketing.html>

American consumers have the right to expect the best goods and services at the lowest prices from free and open competition.  Businesses often rely on a competition to accomplish this.  However competition only works when businesses set prices honestly and independently. When corporations conspire together prices are inflated and customers are cheated. According to Jean-Claude Bosch price fixing is an agreement among businesses to raise, fix, or maintain the price that their goods or services are sold for (par 2).  Studies from Bosch show that about 14% of American corporations have been caught engaging in price fixing schemes (par 3).  If that number were to include all of the corporations that engaged in price fixing schemes and were never caught the number would be substantially higher.  Certain pricing patterns can show if there is a high probability of price fixing.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice price fixing can occur if prices stay identical for long periods of time, price increases are not supported by increased costs, discounts are eliminated, or if businesses are charging higher prices to local customers than distant customers (par 17) .  Price fixing and other forms of corruption are illegal and are subject to criminal prosecution by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice if a corporation is caught running price fixing schemes the maximum penalty is a $100 million fine and if an individual is caught running a price fixing scheme the maximum penalty is a $1 million fine and 10 years of prison (par 5).  When corporations fix prices they are stealing money from the general public just to increase their profits.  Corporate price fixing schemes are difficult to detect but people need to do whatever it takes to fight against it and eradicate it from the world. 

Works Cited

Bosch, Jean-Claude. The Profitability of Price Fixing: Evidence From Stock Market Reaction to Federal Indictments. May 1991. 14 April 2011 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2109522>.

Cannone, Brian. dollar-sign. 2009. Accessed 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/access/upside-leverage-fitness-marketing.html>

United States Department of Justice. Price Fixing, Bid Rigging, and Market Allocation Schemes: What They Are and What to Look For . January 2011. 14 April 2011 <http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/211578.htm>.

Corporations’ Impact on the Government

Bachman, Katy. 1209508-capital-building-picture. 2011. Accessed
7 Apr. 2011.  <http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/
media/e3iadc3894a0975c85f51e5e8083d065af3>

Many people are familiar with the idea of corporations influencing the government.  Most corporations influence the government through campaign funding.  According to Marc A Triebwasser the time a corporation made a major contribution to a political campaign was in 1896 to support William McKinley (par 2).  Triebwasser also says that corporations can donate as much money as they want to support a certain political party as long as they are not supporting a particular candidate (par 13).  Many corporations can also run a tremendous amount of advertisements against certain politicians with no restrictions on how many ads can be shown.  Research from Triebwasser indicates that if a person can receive about $200,000 then that person can run an excellent campaign in a congressional election (par 18).  This means that a corporation only needs to donate a small fraction of the billions of dollars that it profits to back a certain political party.  Once a corporation supports a certain political party then they can get the money to certain politicians under the table without directly contributing to any specific person.  Corporations can also pay people to lobby for certain politicians.  Many corporations regulate certain parts of the economy.  According to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse these regulatory agencies are only concerned with the prosperity of their industry and prevent changes that will have negative effects on it (par 3).  Whitehouse also says that this ultimately leads corporations to dominate many aspects of politician’s political agenda (par 3).  This means that many corporations can control who is elected to office and the objectives of those who are elected.  One way protect against this is to never let government agencies fall under the influence of corporations.  The government also needs to have stricter laws to prevent corporate influence in political campaigns and elections.  America needs to take all necessary measures to prevent corporations from influencing the government or else the consequences will be catastrophic. 

Works Cited

Bachman, Katy. 1209508-capital-building-picture. 2011. Accessed 7 Apr. 2011. <http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3iadc3894a0975c85f51e5e8083d065af3>

Triebwasser, Marc A. How Corporations Influence the Government. 1998. 7 April 2011 <http://www.polisci.ccsu.edu/trieb/InfluGov.html>.

Whitehous, Sheldon. Protecting Our Government From Corporate Influence . 23 June 2010. 7 April 2011 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-sheldon-whitehouse/protecting-our-government_b_623143.html>.