Topic 169: Imitation

Carol:

Knock, Knock:

When Charles Caleb Colton penned the familiar phrase “imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery (Lacon, V 1, no. 183),  he wasn’t thinking about copyrights, patents, intellectual property rights and consumer piracy.
 

Knockoffs are mass-produced imitations of popular or high-end products such as clothing, perfume, jewelry and suitcases.  Sometimes knockoffs are sold as “the real thing” to customers who think they are getting a great deal on a Luis Vuitton designer handbag or a Nordic Track.  Sometimes, the name or logo is changed slightly on the product to fool someone who isn’t paying attention. The product doesn’t even have to be expensive; it can be a lowly marking pen:

              

One of the most commonly  counterfeited goods in the United States is cigarettes, which can be sold more cheaply because the dealers and buyers are circumventing the tax revenues that hike the cost of brand-name cigarettes.
 

I suspect that most people who buy a product from an unconventional source at an unconventional price know they are “cheating the system” but may consider it a victimless crime. In actuality, the victims are not faceless government or corporate agencies but people who lose their jobs, their creative idea, and the benefits from tax revenues.  It is estimated that 750,000 jobs have been lost in the United States from counterfeiting, which has seen a huge spike in imitation drugs and computer parts over the last several years. Much of the commerce related to counterfeit goods now takes place over the Internet (source: “Counterfeit Consumer Goods”). And most of the seized products come from Asia. According to a study by the European Union, in 2005,  86% of seized knockoffs came from China (source: “Pirated Products”).
 

Another revenue loss besides the traffic in fake products is the traffic in pirated products. Despite the efforts of Hollywood and Silicon Valley to protect their latest film or cell phone technology, pirated movies, music and electronic devices show up on the Internet or are sold in international markets before they are officially released in the United States.
 

Generic products are legitimate “knock-offs” which are usually cheaper because they are often sold by lesser known companies without the marketing or advertising costs that inflate the price of products bearing the brands of famous companies or supermarkets. Generic medicines are cheaper than their brand-name counterparts because they are using drugs whose expensive patents have expired. Although studies have shown that quality is usually very similar between the “off brand” and the “popular brand,” many people will argue that they can tell the difference and are willing to pay the extra cost for a Cola, a pill or a bottle of Scotch.
 

Well, I’m going to knock off this essay even though it’s a little shorter than my usual essays. I Have a suitcase sitting on my bed waiting to be packed for a trip to the Northwest. I really like my suitcase, which I got a great deal on at an outlet mall near Sedona.  Quite chic really, a Lois Voitan original.
  

Sources:
Counterfeit Consumer Goods. Wikipedia.
Image of marking pens.  Author: DangApricot. 22 Nov 2008 No higher resolution available.
SharpieVsShoupie.JPG‎ (800 × 600 pixels, file size: 153 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Image of cola can. Author: RelyAble at en. WikipediaGeneric_Cola_Can_Jewel.jpg‎ (158 × 317 pixels, file size: 19 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
“Pirated Products worth More Than $200 billion in 2005.” Agence France-Presse. 6 June 2007. Industry Week. 
 

Megan:

This essay has nothing to do with the topic.

These are the only essays we’ll be posting this week, because the senior member of this team has skipped town. This is a trip I might have been invited on if I had not gotten a puppy, so I’m harboring a little resentment at Bella for the moment for keeping me home.

That being said, I was also really looking forward to this week by myself. I had plans to clean and repair things, to train Bella to be the Best Dog Ever, and to eat healthy and lose 50 pounds. All in a single week! It was going to be amazing. Maybe it still will be. But it’s not gotten off to a very good start.

Last night I read a murder mystery about a serial killer who preyed upon single women home alone. I finished the book satisfied that the killer had been caught, but then realized it had gotten dark as I read away the afternoon and evening and there wasn’t a light on in the house. To say this freaked me out would be an understatement, so I did what any normal person would do. I turned on every light, locked all the doors and posted my predicament on Facebook. Then I had a glass of wine and two bowls of ice cream to calm the nerves.

I woke abruptly this morning after Bella kicked me in the face. I was relieved to be unmurdered, but not pleased that it was 5:15 AM. But I had stuff to do, so I got up. Our bi-monthly cleaning service is coming this morning and the senior member of this team failed to tidy up before leaving yesterday. Mostly this just involves clearing surfaces, and I finished with plenty of time to take the dogs on their morning walk with the neighbors.

My initial plan was to walk Milo on the leash, and let Bella walk free, which is how we’ve been doing it for the past week. This morning she decided to regress, and take a piggy back ride on the eldest and most arthritic dog in the back, which was not appreciated by either the dog or her owner. To Milo's disappointment, I cut the walk short, and skipped  coffee because I don’t like coffee and we headed home.

I let both the dogs out of the car to go into the house without leashes because, again, that is how we always do it. Within seconds, Milo was two blocks down the street. I thought he was chasing a woman who was walking by, but he just flashed past her. Bella followed for about 20 yards and then just stopped and watched him, obviously in awe of his speed and power. He turned  around, ran back past the house and disappeared into the bushes. Bella tried to follow him, but came running back to me after a minute, like she was being chased.

I wandered through the yard calling his name and shaking a bag of treats, but there was no sign of him. After 45 minutes, I got in the car to drive around the block. At the bottom of the hill, standing right in the middle of the road was the biggest coyote I’ve ever seen. I had to hit the horn to get him out of the way, and immediately I had visions of Milo lying in a ditch with his throat ripped out and his stomach torn open, and I’d left my phone at home so I couldn’t call the vet when I found him, and would I have the strength of will to pick up his body and put it in the car?

I continued driving slowly, calling his name, and swearing and praying in a weird mantra. “Dear God, shitshitshit, don’t let him be dead please, MILO,  shitshit, please God.” I pulled back in the drive way and Milo appeared running behind the car, with a very big stick (or the leg of a deer) clenched in his teeth, perfectly healthy and happy. I think Bella was even more relieved to see him than I was. She greeted him with a bark, and attempted a piggy back ride.

It's going to be a very long week.

Milo taking refuge from Bella.