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FEBRUARY 28, 2005
A Sharper Focus On Fakery Your excellent cover story "Fakes!" (Feb. 7) fails to distinguish between "counterfeits" (illegal) and "knockoffs" (legal). For decades the apparel industry has regarded appropriation and reinvention as an essential part of creative progress. One reason that fashion has become a robust, competitive global industry is precisely because no one can "own" the creative design; the same principle accounts for the success of Linux and open-source software. Passing off your work under someone else's name is consumer fraud. But drawing upon and transforming other people's creativity and presenting it under one's own name, has been around at least since Shakespeare "stole" from Ovid. Isaac Newton stood "on the shoulders of giants." Elvis "copied" the blues. Shut down creative emulation, and you shut down progress. David Bollier Amherst, Mass. Laurie Racine New York Editor's Note: The writers, senior fellows at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, are co-founders of Public Knowledge, a public advocacy group for intellectual property and technology policy. The proliferation of private-label goods on the shelves of retail giants around the globe is not far removed from the parasitic nature of illegal counterfeiting and is much less difficult to address. These goods' success depends on the retailer's ability to manipulate subconscious shopping behavior with product offerings that copy the appearance of leading brands without the same levels of quality or performance. David P. Tupaj Cincinnati Fakes are not all bad. Look at the PC industry. Without the IBM (IBM ) PC clones, PCs would cost a lot more than $550. When fakes are allowed to grow legitimately, they bring down price and expand markets. Subrata Goswami Fremont, Calif. Fakes may be a concern if they pose safety, durability, fitness, or other real differences between the knockoffs and the real McCoy. But to use Louis Vuitton and Rolex as examples of the problem is exceedingly far-fetched. The Vuitton handbag fake, which is one-seventeenth the cost of the real thing, "wears out faster" -- that's a reason for concern? Come on. Anyone who markets a product whose price is based mostly on exclusivity and not intrinsic value will always face this problem. Norman A. Abend Wayland, Mass. The National Association of Manufacturers calls on China and other foreign nations that harbor or tacitly enable criminal counterfeiters to get serious about prosecution and prison. Nations that export counterfeits must interdict far more goods in port. Companies need to provide more thorough data to customs services to make such interdiction more frequent on the incoming end. Companies also need to get smarter about detecting and shutting down domestic supply-channel abuses. And Congress must toughen U.S. criminal law. Only a broad-based, globally coordinated attack can reverse the growth in fakes. David Peyton National Association of Manufacturers Washington This is a wild card, but if you can't beat 'em, join 'em: Bring counterfeiters on board. Corporations can solicit help from fake producers in identifying the means, mechanism, and manufacturers of counterfeit goods and provide the producers with strong incentives for joining the team. Abhishek Gupta Cincinnati Annuities Deserve The Hype Tax-deferred treatment of earnings turbocharges savings in the first phase of the annuity contract ("Don't believe the hype," Personal Business, Feb. 7). At the second phase, typically retirement, the annuity's accumulated value can be used in a way no other financial product allows -- to provide lifetime income. Moreover, no other asset-management strategy can guarantee more in retirement income over a long period than an annuity, a point well documented in independent research by Jeffrey Brown of the University of Illinois. Frank Keating, CEO American Council of Life Insurers Washington Editor's Note: The writer is the former governor of Oklahoma.   A Wal-Mart Bank? It Could Happen Soon I was amazed that "Your new banker" (News: Analysis & Commentary, Feb. 7) overlooked the fact that the Walton Family, the majority shareholders and founders of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT ), already owns a bank. The bank, Arvest, has been slowly growing in the Oklahoma and Arkansas markets for the past several years and is run by one of Sam Walton's sons. You were right when you quoted the Bain & Co. analyst as saying it was a matter of when. When they do get past the legal hurdle, they will already have the knowledge and depth of management to turn their banking ambitions into one of the largest financial institutions, basically overnight, with the experience and expertise that they have honed running Arvest. Luke Sontag Tulsa
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