Anyone who walks the streets of Manhattan can observe sidewalk vendors hawking counterfeit luxury products.

It's big business, really big.

Just how big became clear Wednesday when prosecutors announced the "largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history" -- a massive haul of about 219,000 fake handbags, shoes, clothing and other items.

"The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over $1 billion in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history," federal prosecutor Damian Williams said.

Counterfeit goods commonly have a value far lower than their real counterparts.&nbsp;

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Two men were charged with trafficking in the counterfeit goods.

Photos released by the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York showed warehouse rooms jammed with fake designer purses, handbags, shoes and clothing.

One photo showed boxes of goods stacked on shipping pallets.&nbsp;

From January through the end of October, the two defendants, Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, allegedly ran a large-scale knockoff goods ring out of storage facilities in Manhattan, authorities said.

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Both men were arrested on Wednesday, a statement said.

"The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers," New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.&nbsp;

Anyone who walks the streets of Manhattan can observe sidewalk vendors hawking counterfeit luxury products. It's big business, really big. Just how big became clear Wednesday when prosecutors announced the "largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history" -- a massive haul of about 219,000 fake handbags, shoes, clothing and other items.

Anyone who walks the streets of Manhattan can observe sidewalk vendors hawking counterfeit luxury products. It's big business, really big. Just how big became clear Wednesday when prosecutors announced the "largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history" -- a massive haul of about 219,000 fake handbags, shoes, clothing and other items. "The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over $1 billion in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history," federal prosecutor Damian Williams said. Counterfeit goods commonly have a value far lower than their real counterparts. ALSO READ | US men die six years before women, as life expectancy chasm widens Two men were charged with trafficking in the counterfeit goods. Photos released by the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York showed warehouse rooms jammed with fake designer purses, handbags, shoes and clothing. One photo showed boxes of goods stacked on shipping pallets. From January through the end of October, the two defendants, Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, allegedly ran a large-scale knockoff goods ring out of storage facilities in Manhattan, authorities said. ALSO READ | Experts say sonic boom & flash in Minnesota were not from a meteorite. Was it a UFO? Both men were arrested on Wednesday, a statement said. "The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers," New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.

US makes biggest seizure of fake luxury goods at $1 billion in New York

US report called China the top source of counterfeit products in the world. US list identified 42 online markets and 35 physical markets around the world.

China top source of counterfeit products in the world, says US report

Gucci&nbsp;and&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;have&nbsp;filed a&nbsp;joint&nbsp;lawsuit&nbsp;in California&nbsp;against&nbsp;an individual, who&nbsp;allegedly used the US&nbsp;group's social media platforms to sell fake&nbsp;Gucci&nbsp;products, the two companies said on Tuesday.

The initiative, a first of its kind for both&nbsp;Gucci&nbsp;and&nbsp;Facebook, is the latest example of an Internet giant joining forces with a luxury label to fight the proliferation of counterfeit goods being sold via social media.

Amazon has&nbsp;filed similar&nbsp;lawsuits over the past year with Valentino and Ferragamo.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="Apple to roll out new privacy update; Facebook, Google protest">Apple to roll out new privacy update; Facebook, Google protest</a>

In a statement,&nbsp;Gucci&nbsp;- the profit engine of French group Kering - and&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;alleged&nbsp;the unidentified defendant used multiple&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;and Instagram accounts to promote her international online counterfeit business.

Online sales of luxury handbags, shoes and garments have boomed over the past year as the coronavirus pandemic forced retailers to temporarily close their stores.

Groups like&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;are keen to make a bigger push into the luxury market and "social commerce", but to do so they need to show that their platforms are not a conduit for counterfeiting and are safe for brands, some of which are reluctant to sell their products through third-party players.

"More than one million pieces of content were removed from&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;and Instagram in the first half of 2020, based on thousands of reports of counterfeit content from brand owners, including&nbsp;Gucci," the statement said.

It added that in 2020 alone the actions of&nbsp;Gucci's in-house intellectual property team had resulted in four million on-line counterfeit product listings being taken down, the seizure of 4,100,000 counterfeit products, and 45,000 websites, including social media accounts, being disabled.

Gucci and Facebook have filed a joint lawsuit in California against an individual, who allegedly used the US group's social media platforms to sell fake Gucci products, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Gucci and Facebook have filed a joint lawsuit in California against an individual, who allegedly used the US group's social media platforms to sell fake Gucci products, the two companies said on Tuesday. The initiative, a first of its kind for both Gucci and Facebook, is the latest example of an Internet giant joining forces with a luxury label to fight the proliferation of counterfeit goods being sold via social media. Amazon has filed similar lawsuits over the past year with Valentino and Ferragamo. Also read: Apple to roll out new privacy update; Facebook, Google protest In a statement, Gucci - the profit engine of French group Kering - and Facebook alleged the unidentified defendant used multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts to promote her international online counterfeit business. Online sales of luxury handbags, shoes and garments have boomed over the past year as the coronavirus pandemic forced retailers to temporarily close their stores. Groups like Facebook are keen to make a bigger push into the luxury market and "social commerce", but to do so they need to show that their platforms are not a conduit for counterfeiting and are safe for brands, some of which are reluctant to sell their products through third-party players. "More than one million pieces of content were removed from Facebook and Instagram in the first half of 2020, based on thousands of reports of counterfeit content from brand owners, including Gucci," the statement said. It added that in 2020 alone the actions of Gucci's in-house intellectual property team had resulted in four million on-line counterfeit product listings being taken down, the seizure of 4,100,000 counterfeit products, and 45,000 websites, including social media accounts, being disabled.

Gucci, Facebook file joint lawsuit against alleged counterfeiter

The Reserve Bank of&nbsp;India&nbsp;has infused more than Rs 5 trillion ($73.66 billion) of currency&nbsp;notes&nbsp;into the banking system since November&nbsp;8, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters on Thursday.

This is a fraction of the Rs 15.44 trillion in 500- and 1,000-rupee&nbsp;notes&nbsp;that were circulating before Prime Minister Narendra Modi abolished them last month, in a surprise move targeting counterfeiters and people holding undeclared wealth.

So far,&nbsp;Indian banks have taken back 12.44 trillion rupees ($184.24 billion) of high-value banknotes.

Speaking at a press conference, Das said the government was earlier trying to print more of Rs 2,000 currency notes but now were focusing on printing more Rs 500 notes.

He also said the new notes allowed less chances of counterfeiting.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Economics Affairs advisor Shaktikanta Das also informed the government was now focusing on printing more Rs 500 notes

The Reserve Bank of India has infused more than Rs 5 trillion ($73.66 billion) of currency notes into the banking system since November 8, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters on Thursday. This is a fraction of the Rs 15.44 trillion in 500- and 1,000-rupee notes that were circulating before Prime Minister Narendra Modi abolished them last month, in a surprise move targeting counterfeiters and people holding undeclared wealth. So far, Indian banks have taken back 12.44 trillion rupees ($184.24 billion) of high-value banknotes. Speaking at a press conference, Das said the government was earlier trying to print more of Rs 2,000 currency notes but now were focusing on printing more Rs 500 notes. He also said the new notes allowed less chances of counterfeiting. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Demonetisation: So far, Indian govt has infused 33% of new notes in banks

The cottage cheese crackles like popcorn, emits a greyish smoke and finally goes up in flames, burning for an impressive ten minutes, like a well-oiled torch. 
 
The noxious experiment, filmed and posted last month by Russian news website Fontanka, concluded that some dairy sold around Saint Petersburg does not actually contain any milk and is &quot;good only for filling kerosene lamps&quot;. 
 
Though authorities closed one factory making the combustible cheese, the problem of milkless dairy, meatless sausages and other questionable products worry both government agencies and Russian shoppers amid a recession and a food embargo that left shelves empty of Western food imports. 
 
&quot;We decided to show that it&#39;s a systematic problem,&quot; said Fontanka reporter Venera Galeyeva, on the quest to expose other fake foods since her cheese-burning video went viral. 
 
&quot;The problem is not one specific producer. Globally the problem is that Russia does not have enough milk.&quot; 
 
Moscow has enforced an embargo on imports of most foods from the West since August 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. 
 
On Friday Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev officially signed off on extending the embargo until the end of 2017. 
 
Closing the market off from European parmesan and brie has created a booming domestic industry, but as milk production has not grown, many producers are forced to get creative, misleading consumers. 
 
&quot;There is a milk deficit,&quot; said Vadim Semikin of the Institute for Agriculture Market Studies, giving a rough estimate of eight million tonnes last year. 
 
At the same time, palm oil imports grew by 25 per cent in 2015, he said, and companies use it to substitute for milk. 
 
&#39;Falling quality&#39; 
 
Russia has claimed that the embargo is a good opportunity to support the country&#39;s agriculture. 
 
On Thursday, Medvedev argued that extending it for another 18 months was dictated by the &quot;need to create comfortable and predictable conditions for our farmers&quot;. 
 
But the government&#39;s own analytical department concluded in April that Russian consumers have been the losers, observing a trend of &quot;falling quality&quot; of products and &quot;appearance of fake cheese products on the market.&quot; 
 
In a sign of the scope of the problem, Russia&#39;s agriculture watchdog this year began to publish a &quot;List of Honest Ones&quot; of companies which actually use milk and cream to make their dairy foods. 
 
Others use anything from water to &quot;starch, chalk, soap, baking soda, lime&quot; and even plaster to dilute and conserve milk, the watchdog said last week, scandalising the milk industry. 
 
&quot;Most domestic producers take advantage of the non-competitive market and don&#39;t rush to make good products,&quot; said Irina Tikhmyanova, spokeswoman for Roscontrol, a consumer protection NGO. 
 
Sixty per cent of 46 Russian dairy products tested by the group were recently shown to contain surrogates, she said. For meat products, the figure was even higher. 
 
Though recent polls showed that people are noticing food quality go down, many Russians still embrace the embargo. 
 
In a June poll by Levada centre independent pollster, 40 per cent of respondents said they were against allowing European products into Russia - up from 31 per cent in March 2015. 
 
Galeyeva of Fontanka said Russians with shrinking disposable incomes would just have to keep buying fake cheese as prices grow. 
 
&quot;When you have just 300 Rubles ($4.70) to feed your family for the week, you won&#39;t be so picky,&quot; she said. 
 
(AFP)

Rising problem of milk-less dairy, meatless sausages and other questionable products amid recession and an embargo on Western food imports

The cottage cheese crackles like popcorn, emits a greyish smoke and finally goes up in flames, burning for an impressive ten minutes, like a well-oiled torch. The noxious experiment, filmed and posted last month by Russian news website Fontanka, concluded that some dairy sold around Saint Petersburg does not actually contain any milk and is "good only for filling kerosene lamps". Though authorities closed one factory making the combustible cheese, the problem of milkless dairy, meatless sausages and other questionable products worry both government agencies and Russian shoppers amid a recession and a food embargo that left shelves empty of Western food imports. "We decided to show that it's a systematic problem," said Fontanka reporter Venera Galeyeva, on the quest to expose other fake foods since her cheese-burning video went viral. "The problem is not one specific producer. Globally the problem is that Russia does not have enough milk." Moscow has enforced an embargo on imports of most foods from the West since August 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. On Friday Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev officially signed off on extending the embargo until the end of 2017. Closing the market off from European parmesan and brie has created a booming domestic industry, but as milk production has not grown, many producers are forced to get creative, misleading consumers. "There is a milk deficit," said Vadim Semikin of the Institute for Agriculture Market Studies, giving a rough estimate of eight million tonnes last year. At the same time, palm oil imports grew by 25 per cent in 2015, he said, and companies use it to substitute for milk. 'Falling quality' Russia has claimed that the embargo is a good opportunity to support the country's agriculture. On Thursday, Medvedev argued that extending it for another 18 months was dictated by the "need to create comfortable and predictable conditions for our farmers". But the government's own analytical department concluded in April that Russian consumers have been the losers, observing a trend of "falling quality" of products and "appearance of fake cheese products on the market." In a sign of the scope of the problem, Russia's agriculture watchdog this year began to publish a "List of Honest Ones" of companies which actually use milk and cream to make their dairy foods. Others use anything from water to "starch, chalk, soap, baking soda, lime" and even plaster to dilute and conserve milk, the watchdog said last week, scandalising the milk industry. "Most domestic producers take advantage of the non-competitive market and don't rush to make good products," said Irina Tikhmyanova, spokeswoman for Roscontrol, a consumer protection NGO. Sixty per cent of 46 Russian dairy products tested by the group were recently shown to contain surrogates, she said. For meat products, the figure was even higher. Though recent polls showed that people are noticing food quality go down, many Russians still embrace the embargo. In a June poll by Levada centre independent pollster, 40 per cent of respondents said they were against allowing European products into Russia - up from 31 per cent in March 2015. Galeyeva of Fontanka said Russians with shrinking disposable incomes would just have to keep buying fake cheese as prices grow. "When you have just 300 Rubles ($4.70) to feed your family for the week, you won't be so picky," she said. (AFP)

Russia's food embargo creates counterfeit dairy industry

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Friday went public with a new drive to display its determination to stamp out fake goods, urging brands to help its anti-piracy campaign rather than trade rebukes on the issue. 
 
The US-listed online shopping powerhouse has been dogged by accusations that its sites are flooded with copy-cat products, culminating with its ejection this year from a US-based anti-counterfeiting alliance only weeks after being admitted. 
 
At an intellectual property conference it&#39;s hosting in Hangzhou, Alibaba, on Friday, unveiled a new online system to help track and remove fakes as its top anti-piracy official called for more cooperation with makers of branded goods. 
 
&quot;In the face of such a complex problem we can&#39;t be complaining about each other, or criticising each other...We have to have everybody involved and work together to do it,&quot; said Jessie Zheng, Alibaba&#39;s chief platform governance officer, speaking at its conference on intellectual property (IP) protection. 
 
&quot;In this battle it&#39;s you and me,&quot; said Zheng. &quot;It can&#39;t be you doing the work and me watching, or me doing the work and you talking. Our only choice is to join forces.&quot; 
 
Alibaba took an embarrassing hit in its fight against fakes earlier this year when it was forced out of the Washington-based International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. This came after a mutiny by members of the group, including US luxury goods maker Michael Kors Holdings Inc and French group Kering SA&#39;s Gucci brand, against the Chinese firm. 
 
Friday&#39;s conference and the launch of the new online system for controlling fakes come about two months before Alibaba&#39;s hometown of Hangzhou hosts the annual summit of the G20. 
 
Several state leaders, including US President Barack Obama, may visit the company&#39;s college-like campus when they are in town, people with knowledge of the preparations said. 
 
The &quot;IP Joint-Force System&quot; launched on Friday is an online platform designed to streamline IP-related communications between brands and Alibaba, the company said. 
 
It expands an existing &quot;good faith takedown&quot; scheme started last year and is designed to simplify the removal of listings of suspected counterfeits. 
 
(Reuters)

This comes after Alibaba was accused multiple times of carrying counterfeit or 'copy-cat' products

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Friday went public with a new drive to display its determination to stamp out fake goods, urging brands to help its anti-piracy campaign rather than trade rebukes on the issue. The US-listed online shopping powerhouse has been dogged by accusations that its sites are flooded with copy-cat products, culminating with its ejection this year from a US-based anti-counterfeiting alliance only weeks after being admitted. At an intellectual property conference it's hosting in Hangzhou, Alibaba, on Friday, unveiled a new online system to help track and remove fakes as its top anti-piracy official called for more cooperation with makers of branded goods. "In the face of such a complex problem we can't be complaining about each other, or criticising each other...We have to have everybody involved and work together to do it," said Jessie Zheng, Alibaba's chief platform governance officer, speaking at its conference on intellectual property (IP) protection. "In this battle it's you and me," said Zheng. "It can't be you doing the work and me watching, or me doing the work and you talking. Our only choice is to join forces." Alibaba took an embarrassing hit in its fight against fakes earlier this year when it was forced out of the Washington-based International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. This came after a mutiny by members of the group, including US luxury goods maker Michael Kors Holdings Inc and French group Kering SA's Gucci brand, against the Chinese firm. Friday's conference and the launch of the new online system for controlling fakes come about two months before Alibaba's hometown of Hangzhou hosts the annual summit of the G20. Several state leaders, including US President Barack Obama, may visit the company's college-like campus when they are in town, people with knowledge of the preparations said. The "IP Joint-Force System" launched on Friday is an online platform designed to streamline IP-related communications between brands and Alibaba, the company said. It expands an existing "good faith takedown" scheme started last year and is designed to simplify the removal of listings of suspected counterfeits. (Reuters)

E-commerce giant Alibaba launches drive to eliminate fake goods from its websites

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