ShouldProfit-SeekingFakeGoodsBuyersBeEncouraged?
TomarkWorldConsumerRightsDayeveryyear,ChinaroutinelyexposesfraudulenttransactionsandbusinessmalpracticesonMarch15.Thisyear,thespotlightwasonpeoplewhoknowinglypurchasefakegoodssothattheycanmakeakillingbyseekingcompensation.
Thisphenomenonhasbecomeanindustrybyitself,withahistoryofovertwodecades.Thetrendstartedin1995whenabuyer,WangHai,soughttopurchasetwoheadsetsatashoppingmallinBeijing.Wangrealizedtheywerecounterfeitsbutstillwentaheadandboughtanother10.HethenmanagedtogetdoublewhathepaidfromtheshoppingmallundertheConsumerRightsProtectionLaw.
TodayWangownsfourcompaniesinBeijing,Tianjin,NanjingandShenzhen,allofthemspecializinginturningaprofitbyextractingcompensationfromsellersofcounterfeitgoods.In2014,thecompaniesmadeaprofitofover4millionyuan($617,000).The鈥渋ndustry鈥漬owhasalargenumberofpeopleworkingtounearthcounterfeitproductssothattheycanclaimcompensationandmakeaneatprofit.
Thoughtheyexposethefraudulentpracticesofsomeindustrygiants,thegroup,however,isalsoaccusedofblackmailingbusinesses.Publicopinionontheseprofit-driven鈥渃onsumerrightsactivists鈥漣sdivided.Theirsupporterssaytheyhavetheprofessionalknowledgeandexperienceneededtoobtaincompensationforfakegoods,therebysafeguardingconsumers鈥檙ightsandkeepingthemarketinorder.
ButtheircriticssaythegovernmentshouldbantheseprofessionalswhoaremisusingtheConsumerRightsProtectionLawforfinancialgains.Whattheydogoesagainsttheprinciplesofintegrityandhonesty.Tradeunionsandnonprofitorganizationsarethemoreappropriateentitiestohelpprotectconsumers鈥檙ights.
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LongMinfeiguancha.gmw.cn
Profit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorsarenotperfectbuttheydeserveourunderstandingandsupportaswecanlearnsomethingabouthowtoprotectourlegalrightsasconsumers.Woodpeckerseatinsectsthatareharmfultotreesnottoprotecttheforestbuttosurvivethemselves.Butthatdoesn鈥檛stoppeoplefrompraisingthebirds.Similarly,weshouldnotbetoocriticalofpeoplewholiveonpurchasingfakegoodsandthenclaimcompensationastheoutcomeoftheirworkactuallybenefitsoursociety.
ThenewlyamendedConsumerRightsProtectionLawhasincreasedthecompensationamountsubstantially,meaningalargerprofitforthesepeople.Itislikelythatmoreandmorepeoplewillworkinthistrade.Ithinkitisagoodthing.
Thereisstillalongwaytogobeforeeveryconsumerbecomesawareofhis/herlegalrightswhentheygetintodisputes.Underthiscircumstance,oursocietyneedstheseprofit-seekingconsumerrightsadvocates.However,wecannotdependonthemsolely.Thegovernmentshouldmakegreatereffortstorootoutcounterfeitgoods.Whenwholesocietyworksunitedly,harmfulbusinessesproducingorsellingfakeproductswouldbefullyexposedanderadicated.CA
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ZhuYonghuawww.youth.cn
Theseprofit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorsacquirefinancialcompensationbysettingtrapsandusingskillfultactics.AsWangHai,whostartedthebusinessinChina,said,thefightagainstcounterfeitproductshasnothingtodowithjustice.Itisagoodactonlybecauseyoucanmakemoney.
Obviously,thisgroupofpeopleistakingadvantageoftheConsumerRightsProtectionLawtoforcefakegoodsmanufacturersandsellerstopaythem.Businesseswillevenbribetheso-calledconsumeractiviststocutthemsomeslack.Besides,theseinvestigatorsgochasingafteranothertargetassoonastheygetcompensationfromone,oblivioustowhetherthemanufacturerorsellerisstillcontinuingwithillegalactivities.
Inmyopinion,theconductofprofit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorsgoesagainstboththemodernvaluesoursocietyadvocatesandthetraditionalvaluesournationhaslongheld.Purchasingproductsthatyouknowarefakeandthenclaimingcompensationasavictimisnotanobleordignifieddeed.Admittedly,cheatingconsumersbymanufacturingorsellingfakegoodsisagainstthelaw.Butweshouldnotsupportoradvocatetheseso-calledconsumeractivists鈥檞ayof鈥減rotecting鈥漜onsumers鈥檒egalrights.
Whattheprofit-seekinginvestigatorsdoisfundamentallydifferentfromthegovernment鈥檚effortstocrackdownonfakegoods.Wecannotregarditasasupplementasitwillnotbringanypositiveresultsbutwillonlyunderminethegovernment鈥檚authority.Toleratingsuchpeoplewilljeopardizethevaluesystemofintegrityandhonesty.CA
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ZuChangyunMediacommentator
Somepeoplesaythatthesefakegoodsinvestigatorsareprofitdrivenortrytoblackmailsellersormanufacturersafterbuyinggoodstheyknowtobefake.Butwecannotdenythatwhattheydoindeeddetersmanufacturersandsellersfromproducingorsellingfakegoods.Theirworkalsohelpsincreaseordinarycon-sumers鈥檃warenessoftheirlegalrights.
Peoplewholiveonpurchasingcounterfeitgoodsandgoingafterthemanufacturersandsellersforcompensationarecomplementingthegovernment鈥檚effortsincrackingdownonmanufacturingandsellingoffakegoods.Nomatterwhatintentionstheyhave,theireffortshelpregulatethemarket.Aslongastheyconducttheirbusinesswithintheframeworkofthelaw,weshouldsupportthemfortheoutcometheireffortsproduce.CA
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FanJun
www.southcn
SinceWangHaibecameChina鈥檚firstprofit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorin1995,moreandmorepeoplehavejoinedthebusiness.Thereasonisthatthisisaprofitablebusinessintheireyes.
Themotiveoftheseso-calledconsumeractivistsistomakeaprofit.Thisisevidentfromtheirgeneralpracticeoftryingtoprivatelysettledisputeswithsellersormanufacturersoffakegoodsbeforefilinglawsuits.Somepeoplecallthemparasiteswhothriveonillegalcommercialactivities.Theirprofit-drivenmotiveisobviousinspiteoftheirseeminglyrightfulexplanationthattheyarelookingforjustice.
Spurredbyself-interest,people鈥檚greedwillbecomeunrestrained.Consumers鈥檃warenessofprotectingtheirrightsthroughlegalmeansisincreasingtodayandthechannelstodosoarealsogettingsmoother.Therefore,profit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorsarenotnecessaryanymore.Besides,thegovernmentagenciesinchargeshoulddealwithconsumers鈥檆omplaintsandcrackdownoncounterfeitgoodsmoreeffectivelysothatthemarketisshipshape.Inthisway,profit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigatorswillnolongerbeabletoprofitfromfakegoods.CA
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JiangYongxingJinhuaDaily
Investigatingfakegoodsandgoingaftertheirsellersforcompensationrequiresprofessionalknowledgeandexperiencewhichnoteverybodypossesses.Nowadays,counterfeitgoodsaresowellmadethatordinaryconsumerscannotmakeouttheyarefakes.Ifpeoplewhounwittinglyboughtfakeproductswanttoexercisetheirrightsasconsumers,theyhavetoknowtheconsumers鈥檙ightslaw.Inaddition,theyhavetobeprepared,bothphysicallyandmentally,toembarkonatime-andenergy-consumingchallengeofnegotiatingwiththepartiesinvolved-sell-ers,manufacturesandevengovernmentagencies鈥搕owincompensation.Itisverydifficultforanordinaryconsumertoachievethis.
Ordinaryconsumersresorttoclaimingcompensationonlywhentheirindividualrightsareinfringedon.Butprofit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigators鈥檅usinessistocrackdownonspuriousgoods.Theytaketheinitiativetolearnwaysandresearchtoimprovewhattheydoforbetterresults.Althoughtheyareprofit-driven,theireffortshelpcleansethemarketoffakegoodsandbenefittheconsumer.CA
Con
ZhangXiliuguancha.gmw.cn
Weshouldnotoverestimatetheeffectivenessofwhattheso-calledconsumerrightsadvocatesdo.
Thisgroupofpeoplebuygoodsthattheyknowarecounterfeitjustforfinancialgains.Thisisatwistedmindsetandshouldnotbeacceptedasitoverridestheoriginalreasonbehindclaimingcompensation:upholdingjustice.
Establishingfirmstorunthisbusinessasanindustryfurtherexposesthesepeople鈥檚selfishnessandprofit-drivenmotives.Thesecompaniesarejustmakingaprofitunderthedisguiseofworkingasactivists.Onceclaimingcompensationbecomesabusiness,thoseso-calledactivistswilltrytomakefinancialgainsbyhookorbycrook.Intheprocess,theywillinevitablyjeopardizethemarketorderandcausemorecomplicateddisputesandsocialconflicts.
Therampantgrowthofprofit-seekingfakegoodsinvestigationindustryshowsthatnon-profitorganizationsdidn鈥檛playtheirdueroleinsafeguardingconsumers鈥檒egalrights.Insteadofencouragingtheseso-calledconsumerrightsadvocates,non-profitorganizationsshouldassumetheirdueresponsibilityinthisregard.CA