Palika, Burma bazaar top destinations in global counterfeit list

36 locations in India have been under watch.

Delhi's Palika Bazaar and Chennai's Burma Bazaar top the list of global locations raided by the International Chamber of Commerce in 2006 in its bid to clamp down on sellers of counterfeit and pirated goods.

In 2006, the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) Intelligence Report monitored 414 global incidents of intellectual property theft which related primarily to mobile, temporary and low rent locations in 44 countries.

At $1.9 billion in 2006, the theft of intellectual property represented a 250 per cent increase in counterfeit and pirated goods sold primarily at mobile, temporary and low rent locations

The other locations raided include Canal Street, USA; New Divisoria Mall,Philippines; Paddy's Market, UK; Petaling Street, Malaysia and Ratu Plaza, Indonesia.

In all, 36 locations in India have been under watch. The list includes Chandni Chowk and GK 1 market in Delhi. Charni Road and DN Road in Mumbai also make the dubious list. The majority of the markets tracked deal in entertainment and software, an indicator of just how widespread the problem is.

Investigations at these venues centered on two areas, the entertainment and software industries (53.8 per cent of the cases), and clothing and accessories (29.4 per cent of the cases).

These locations were also found to sell a wide range of other fake, high demand consumer items that include jewellery, watches, electronic equipment, perfumes and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and computer equipment.

Commenting on how these markets are often linked with other undesirable activity, the report states that one of every 20 vendors who peddle these goods is funding his own personal drug use or trafficking, sells pornography, carries weapons and is an illegal migrant.

Glen Gieschen, manager of the Intelligence Reports programme said that most of these markets contain hundreds of stalls which increase the chances of buying phoney goods. The money from the sold goods further fund undesirable activities and helps fuel the tremendous growth of piracy.

Ronald Brohm, director, SNB-REACT, an anti-counterfeiting organisation which represents 135 brands in Europe said, "By focusing on these outlet points, you can target the majority of counterfeit sales. Leaving these outlets untouched, which is now happening frequently because the problem is already too wide spread and the enforcement agencies are afraid of public escalation, establishes a perfect platform for this crime to develop further."