Alibaba, eBay and Amazon Warn On Counterfeit Products

Los Angeles, CA, May 29, 2014 - Dishonesty damages credibility with consumers and investors, and nobody likes to be fooled. Alibaba^® is facing such credibility concerns and is warning investors in their $15 billion IPO prospectus "we may be subject to allegations and lawsuits claiming that items listed on our marketplaces are pirated, counterfeit or illegal." Still, this is not much recognition for the enormous counterfeit product problem facing Alibaba, and other e-commerce giants including eBay^® (EBAY) and Amazon^® (AMZN).

eBay and Amazon annual 10k company reports required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warn investors of the same credibility challenges, advising of allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights resulting in threatened and actual litigation by rights owners. eBay litigants include luxury brand owners Tiffany & Co.^®, Rolex^® and Coty Prestige^®. eBay claims to work actively with the owners of intellectual property rights to eliminate listings offering infringing items, but rights owners have expressed that the efforts are insufficient.

eBay enjoyed some early success in defending against copyright and IP infringement litigation, yet more recent cases have been based on different legal theories than those of earlier cases. eBay remains cautious that they will continue to be successful in defending against such litigation and remains exposed to regulatory, civil or criminal proceedings and penalties; issues that should never even present for investor consideration.

Alibaba claims to have removed almost 20% of its 800 million website listings last year identified as suspected infringing or counterfeit products, but doesn't address how many products were simply re-listed in the rapidly accelerating $1 trillion counterfeit product industry.

Brand owners complaints are loud and clear. For example;

"99.5 percent of purported Monster products sold on Alibaba sites are fakes. We have received no cooperation from Alibaba to resolve this matter," says Dave Tognotti, Monster Products^® General Manager.

"As nearly as we can tell, every Browning knife on this (Alibaba) website is counterfeit. Do your due diligence and make sure before you buy. Beware!" – Browning^® website.

"99.9% of the Beachbody products being offered on iOffer, Alibaba, Aliexpress, Taobao, Tradetang, "Used" on Amazon, eBay, Craigslist are counterfeit." – Beachbody^® anti-Piracy.

The Counterfeit Report^®, a popular website and visual anti-counterfeiting guide confirmed the skepticism of e-commerce website claims of diligence and responsiveness in removing counterfeit products. For example, fake products -- products that in fact were never made by, and do not even exist in the manufacturer's product line are the easiest to identify on the e-commerce giants websites. These purely fictional products, including consumer electronics, clothing and OTC drugs were easily purchased by The Counterfeit Report® from Alibaba, Amazon and eBay. All three web giants were unresponsive to continued reports of the fake and counterfeit products, allowing the listings to continue and products to be sold. Buyer beware.

'Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty' - Plato

Website: www.TheCounterfeitReport.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Counterfeit-Report/131568053660579