Take a look at the GAO’s report on losses due to piracy. It concludes that all of the studies you have heard cited a zillion times are completely made up.
Three commonly cited estimates of U.S. industry losses due to counterfeiting have been sourced to U.S. agencies, but cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology.
First, a number of industry, media, and government publications have cited an FBI estimate that U.S. businesses lose $200-$250 billion to counterfeiting on an annual basis. This estimate was contained in a 2002 FBI press release, but FBI officials told us that it has no record of source data or methodology for generating the estimate and that it cannot be corroborated.
Second, a 2002 CBP press release contained an estimate that U.S. businesses and industries lose $200 billion a year in revenue and 750,000 jobs due to counterfeits of merchandise. However, a CBP official stated that these figures are of uncertain origin, have been discredited, and are no longer used by CBP. A March 2009 CBP internal memo was circulated to inform staff not to use the figures. However, another entity within DHS continues to use them.
Third, the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association reported an estimate that the U.S. automotive parts industry has lost $3 billion in sales due to counterfeit goods and attributed the figure to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The OECD has also referenced this estimate in its report on counterfeiting and piracy, citing the association report that is sourced to the FTC. However, when we contacted FTC officials to substantiate the estimate, they were unable to locate any record or source of this estimate within its reports or archives, and officials could not recall the agency ever developing or using this estimate. These estimates attributed to FBI, CBP, and FTC continue to be referenced by various industry and government sources as evidence of the significance of the counterfeiting and piracy problem to the U.S. economy.
More commentary on this here. In sum, don’t believe a single word you hear about how pirates are causing massive human suffering.
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Wow, it HAS to be bad if the state is even willing to call them out on it.
mixing empiricism with counterfactuals was always going to be a problem.
I thought that piracy has been on the rise lately. I’ve heard of several ships being taken over and their contents held for ransom. Oh wait, this is about “piracy”, a bunk term in and of itself used to describe non-commercial copyright infringement.
This makes about as much sense as saying the it cost me $30,000 because I did not buy 1000 shares of IBM, which is now trading around $130, when it was trading at $100.
You’re right; you should ask the government for compensation for your losses
These would be your ‘imputed’ losses that you ‘should’ be able to offset your ‘imputed income’ on which the IRS likes to tax you.
Thank you for your work on this subject, Mr. Tucker.
This is all because of tariffs, protectionism and patents. If the USA would allow products from all sources to complete with preferred manufacturers and patent holders, then this would be a non issue. The best off folks would be consumers and the worst off would be the preferred manufacturers.
The funnier part of the article is the discussion of counterfeiting. The biggest counterfeiter in this history of the world is the US Federal Government. I be the article does not mention any of the damage it does.
“Three commonly cited estimates of U.S. industry losses due to counterfeiting have been sourced to U.S. agencies, but cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology”.
U.S. agencies = the FED.
Er, why quote shit out of context? The report considers other methodologies & then concludes:
According to experts and literature GAO reviewed, counterfeiting and piracy have produced a wide range of effects on consumers, industry, government, and the economy as a whole, depending on the type of infringements involved and other factors. Consumers are particularly likely to experience negative effects when they purchase counterfeit products they believe are genuine, such as pharmaceuticals. Negative effects on U.S. industry may include lost sales, lost brand value, and reduced incentives to innovate; however, industry effects vary widely among sectors and companies. The U.S. government may lose tax revenue, incur IP enforcement expenses, and face risks of counterfeits entering supply chains with national security or civilian safety implications. The U.S. economy as a whole may grow more slowly because of reduced innovation and loss of trade revenue. Some experts and literature also identified some potential positive effects of counterfeiting and piracy. Some consumers may knowingly purchase counterfeits that are less expensive than the genuine goods and experience positive effects (consumer surplus), although the longer-term impact is unclear due to reduced incentives for research and development, among other factors.
“The U.S. government may lose tax revenue”
But this is a good thing, yes?
what is a counterfeit phamaceutical???
if i make an orange coated aspirin identical in formula to Ecotrin ™ is the label a counterfeit or the aspirin itself??? i can buy orange coated aspirin from numerous manufactures.
is it a counterfeit if it says 200 mg and is really only 100 mg??? or is there another word for that??
and unless its forceable robbery or theft stop calling copying piracy.
The thing is, as soon as you legalize it everyone will start pirating and then the losses WILL start for firms. Oh, and three bogus figures from the US doesn’t mean “all of the studies you have heard” fro maround the world is also bullshit, that’s just plain dumb conclusion to make. Yea I know most people who pirate music/software etc. wouldn’t even have bought it in the first place, but as long as the ‘supporting the artist’ mentality still exists and production companies stop using DRM then pirating will stay as is and not cause losses for firms. Pirating manufacturing parts however is very dangerous as there is no oversight, faulty parts is a safety issue. Pirating goods is the same thing, that fake children’s toy you bought could contain all sorts of lead paint and toxic chemicals and you have no-one to blame but yourself for buying a fake, and the government for not regulating it. Pirating medicine, obvious dangers. IN SHORT: this article makes no logical sense. I support the piracy movement, but 3-studies does not mean every-study is bullshit, and piracy is not all good.
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