Bill would bag phony-purse buyers
Pretty soon, it could be more than just the fashion police who have a problem with your shoddy knockoff bag, like this bogus Louis Vuitton.
Buyers could face a year in jail or a £606 fine under a proposed bill by a city councilwoman fed up with cheapskate tourists and Big Apple residents flooding her district in search of fake designer merchandise.
"We don't want to be known as the place to come to get counterfeit goods," said Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose Chinatown district is ground zero for counterfeiters.
Under Chin's bill, which is being introduced Thursday, shoppers caught buying any counterfeit product could be jailed or slapped with a fine of £606 -- a little less than the price of Marc Jacobs' frequently copied Baroque Quilting Mini Stam bag, which retails for £758.
"It's a very big problem," Chin said of the counterfeit market. "People are still coming, and the industry is growing, and we have to stop the demand. We need people to know that they are feeding this demand."
Several of Chin's colleagues have expressed support for the bill, and she already has five co-sponsors.
The punishment might seem draconian, but it's necessary to curb the growing problem, she said.
She pointed out that the money that counterfeiters rake in often funds other nefarious activities, such as terrorism and unsafe child-labor practices.
But try telling that to bargain hunters. Christine Gambino, 21, of Staten Island -- who was in Chinatown yesterday sporting a fake Louis Vuitton handbag that cost her £24 -- vowed to continue to hit the neighborhood for counterfeit goodies.
"I'll take a risk and sacrifice to look good and pay less," she said.
Erma Charles of Brooklyn said she knows it's wrong, but she can't resist.
"Everyone steals," the teacher said as she walked in Chinatown. If the law passes, Chin said, she'll work to blanket problem areas like Chinatown with signs warning people about the new rules.
The law specifically states that buyers should know their goods are counterfeit because of the low price and location where they are buying them.
But don't worry if you're strolling down the street swinging your fake Vuitton and the police pass by. You have to be caught actually buying the goods to be charged, according to the proposal.
Surprisingly, legit merchants -- who could lose street traffic if the ubiquitous black-market vendors were to leave -- applauded the proposal.
Sandy Lui, manager of Optical 88 on Hester Street, acknowledged that she might lose customers, since many people come to Chinatown specifically to buy knockoffs, but she said she supports a crackdown on principle.
"It's wrong to sell [fake goods]. I don't like people coming in here assuming we also sell fake stuff," she said.Cops -- who have struggled to stop the growing problem -- said the law would be difficult to enforce. "It's never going to fly," one officer said.
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| Buyer beware: A proposed bill could land knockoff shoppers with a fine -- or even jail |
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1G fine for fake? Get real!
Bag buyers blast pol's knockoff bill
New York women strongly disagree about whether anyone should buy fake designer handbags or only pay full price for the real deal -- but they overwhelmingly blasted a proposed new law that would slap fines of up to a whopping £600 on people who buy counterfeits.
"I don't think it's a big deal to sell knockoff bags," sniffed Morgan Mikulaschek, 19, a student who lives on the Upper West Side, as she toted around a fake Fendi that she bought for £24.
"If they were selling real bags illegally, that's one thing, but they're fake -- so who cares?" Mikulaschek said The real white leather pleated bag retails for £877
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| Morgan Mikulaschek, 19, paid £24 for her knockoff Fendi. | | | | | | |
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"I don't think the designers are hurt from it. Their regular customers aren't going to go down to Canal Street to look for fakes."
Jocelyn Rustemeyer, 23, said she prefers the real, £480 Louis Vuitton she was lugging around, but also copped to owning a counterfeit Coach for which she paid £12 several years ago.
"I think the fine is ridiculous," said Rustemeyer, a Greenwich Village real-estate agent. "People buying fakes obviously can't afford a £600 fine."
Even ladies who would never be caught dead with a knockoff pooh-poohed Councilwoman Margaret Chin's proposal to issue fines of up to £600 -- and a jail term of up to a year -- for counterfeit-buying customers, many of whom cram her Chinatown district daily.
Graduate student Danielle Bass, 28, of the Upper West Side, defended her £841 purchase of an authentic Tod's bag even as she blasted the proposed fine.
"It's upsetting to buy purses and see fake versions of them. If I'm going to wear designers, I'm not going to be cheap about it. When I buy bags, I make sure there aren't fake versions of them. This bag was worth the price," Bass said.
"But I think the fine is too harsh. You can't fine someone for liking a bag and not wanting to spend a lot of money for it."
Fordham Law Professor Susan Scafidi said that if Chin's bill passes, it would put the Big Apple on par with France and Italy, where buyers of counterfeits can be fined up to £901.
"I absolutely think it could affect the business," said Scafidi, who heads Fordham's Fashion Law Institute. "There are some consumers who will think twice."
Scafidi scoffed at the idea that the law would significantly harm New York's tourism industry.
"People have not stopped going to Paris," she noted.
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Looks like some are not deterred, what's your thoughts?
