Counterfeiting

“ Counterfeiting and digital piracy have increased dramatically in recent years and are areas of particular concern in this year's report. Unfortunately, in the area of counterfeiting what was once a localized industry concentrated on the copying of high-end designer goods has now become a massive, sophisticated global business involving the manufacturing and sale of counterfeit versions of everything from soaps, shampoos, razors and batteries to cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and automobile parts, as well as medicines and health care products. ”

“ A forgery is no bargain at any price as many a collector has learned to his embarrassment and dismay, when a counterfeit specimen is discovered in his album. And, strange as it may seem, these tricksters of the trade do not confine themselves to counterfeiting the rarities alone, but lend their shady talents to duplicating the low-priced issues also. ”

“ Now, to say nothing of other crimes, if it be held that the offence of counterfeiting includes the long list of crimes which have relation to spurious coin, and that jurisdiction over all of them is wholly withdrawn from the States, any one can see that the consequences must be most disastrous. There is not a class of crime so common, nor a class of offenders so dexterous, and requiring so much a local vigilance. ”

“ All good banks should be against small notes on their own account.
These small notes are a curse to the public. They are the great source of counterfeiting. Look at any price current, and behold the catalogue of the counterfeits. They are almost all on the small denominations—under twenty dollars. And this counterfeiting, besides being a crime in itself, leads to crimes—to a general demoralization in passing them. Holders cannot afford to lose them: they cannot trace out the person from whom they got them. ”

“ It is beyond belief that Congress intended to relax the law against counterfeiters at a time when the nation was engaged in financing a war. Such a construction would be neither logical nor reasonable. The section now under consideration is plainly the culmination of a long series of legislative acts, each of which has declared it to be a crime to have possession of paper, counterfeiting the distinctive paper, and suitable to be made into counterfeit obligations. Each change since 1837 was intended to make the possession of counterfeit paper more dangerous for counterfeiters. ”

“ The global scope of piracy and counterfeiting requires stronger and more effective border enforcement to stop the import, export, and transit of pirated and counterfeit goods. Through bilateral consultations and our FTAs, USTR works to maximize the deterrent effect of remedies, including requirements that pirated and counterfeit products, as well as the equipment used to make them, are seized and destroyed. The economic damage caused by counterfeiting to the legitimate companies whose products are counterfeited is enormous. ”

“ The provisions of the statute were not meant to cover counterfeiting, or preparations antecedent to counterfeiting. Their whole purpose was to penalize possession or retention by unauthorized persons of the distinctive kind of paper which the Secretary has adopted for the making of the obligations of the United States; language which, as we have said, necessarily imports genuine obligations, because if not genuine they would not be obligations of the United States at all. ”

“ Anyone selling gold or silver ware, vessel, plate or other item large enough to be marked which has not been marked by its maker shall forfeit 10 pounds or be kept at hard labor up to six months. Anyone counterfeiting such mark shall forfeit 100 pounds. Later, vendors of these items were required to be licensed and the penalty for counterfeiting was raised to felony for which one shall suffer death without benefit of clergy. ”

“ An example which can serve to illustrate the extent of the economic harm arising from such trademark counterfeiting comes from India. In September 2013, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry published a study which analyzed seven key industry sectors that are vulnerable to counterfeiting, piracy, and smuggling, e.g., automotive parts, alcohol, computer hardware, mobile phones, packaged foods, personal goods, and tobacco products. ”

“ Compared with a dozen or so years ago, there is nothing like the counterfeiting going on in this country. Shortly after the war the country was practically flooded with it, but so perfect is the machinery of the secret service and so successful have its officers been in recent years in unearthing the big plants and their operators, and placing the latter behind the bars, that counterfeiting has almost ceased. ”

“ Thus, in England, the counterfeiting of the coin is made high treason, whether it be uttered or not; but those who barely utter false money are neither guilty of treason nor of misprision of treason. [1] 1 Hawk. P. C., 20. Again (1 East, Crown Law, 178) , if A. counterfeit the gold or silver coin, and by agreement before such counterfeiting B. is to receive and vent the money, he is an aider and abettor to the act itself of counterfeiting, and consequently a principal traitor within the law. ”

“ In spite of significant attention and resources from brand owners, administrative supervision, civil lawsuits, agreements with landlords, and attention from China's central government and foreign governments, counterfeiting remains pervasive in many retail and wholesale markets. ”

“ They would establish a large counterfeiting plant. They would take the counterfeit stuff and give it to the stockholders in the association. For every thirty-five cents which the association owed to a holder of stock Morello and Lupo would give one full dollar in counterfeit money. The person receiving the counterfeit money would be obliged to dispose of it according to the directions given by Lupo and Morello, who held themselves competent to instruct the members of the association so that the bad money could be disposed of without risk of arrest. ”

“ If a bank stops payment, the holders of the small notes, who are usually the working part of the community, are the last to find it out, and the first to suffer. If counterfeiting is perpetrated, it is chiefly the small notes which are selected for imitation, because they are most current among those who know the least about notes, and who are most easily made the dupes of imposition, and the victims of fraud. ”

“ The fact is, that the counterfeiters are really more democratic than the bank men, and only stick to their "constitutional rights,"—the right of individuals, as well as of bodies politic, to manufacture money. If the State would let the matter of money-making alone, and abolish all laws regarding it, it would not only abolish counterfeiters and counterfeiting thereby, and "bogus" counterfeit speculators also, but would, in so doing, leave a clear field for sensible political economists to work out a plan of exchange, in which some justice and honesty might be obtained. ”

“ The laws of the United States pertaining to anything that borders on infringement of our various money issues, both metal and currency, are most rigid; anything approaching a similarity of impression is prohibited, and a cut, stamp, or impression of any character that approaches in its appearance any money issue of our government is considered a violation of the law against counterfeiting, and is dealt with severely. ”

“ Then, in 1694, an act was passed expressly "to prevent counterfeiting and clipping the coin." "It is manifest," says the preamble, "that of late years the current coin of this kingdom hath been greatly diminished by rounding, clipping, filing, and melting the same, and likewise many false and counterfeit coins have been clipped for the better guising thereof;" and then it is declared to be apparent that these practices are "very much occasioned by those who drive a trade of exchanging broad money for clipped money, and by other acts and devices." ”

“ Penalties for forging, counterfeiting, &c.Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall falsely make, forge or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged or counterfeited, or willingly aid or assist in falsely making, forging or counterfeiting any bill or note in imitation of or purporting to be a bill or note issued by order of the president, directors and company of the said bank, or any order or check on the said bank or corporation, or any cashier thereof ”

“ I have known fruit vendors to lose a trade in trying to keep the odd cent in a quarter, arguing that a real is 61⁄4 cents in theory but only 6 in practice. Counterfeiting is the greatest industry in the republic outside of the lottery business. Paper money is rarely seen, and that makes the volume of silver enormous, and requires everybody to carry bags of it. If you paid a man a hundred dollars in quarters, he would test each one separately hunting for counterfeits, before he would accept payment, and the “ring” of money testing in the market is a regular Babel. ”

“ The high contracting parties, desiring to secure complete and efficient protection to the manufacturing industry of their respective citizens and subjects, agree that any counterfeiting in one of the two countries of the trademarks affixed in the other on merchandise, to show its origin and quality, shall be strictly prohibited and repressed, and shall give ground for an action of damages in favor of the injured party to be prosecuted in the courts of the country in which the counterfeit shall be proven. ”

“ The fools are the people who think they can counterfeit Uncle Sam's currency and get away with it. Barnum must have been right. There's a sucker born every minute—and those that don't try to beat the ponies or buck the stock market turn to counterfeiting for a living. They get it, too, in Leavenworth or Atlanta or some other place that maintains a federal penitentiary.
"They never seem to learn anything by others' experience, [269] either. You'd think, after the Thurene case, it would be perfectly apparent that no one could beat the counterfeiting game for long." ”

“ Now a counterfeiter, in committing his crime, must compel his mind to imitate closely the inscription of the bill, letter for letter, including that threatening passage, which says: "The law punishes counterfeiting ..." ”

“ The uttering of counterfeit coin is a cheat, and the State can protect its citizens against fraud by exercise of its police power. Such offenses fall strictly within State jurisdiction. Counterfeiting debases the coin, throws spurious and base metal, or false securities into circulation, and is an offense against that constitutional power which is exclusively authorized to create a currency for public uses. The offense is against the sovereignty of the nation, and, being a fraud, it is against the sovereignty of the State. ”

“ For the prospect of profit has perhaps enticed the editor to undertake, with the risk of having the published work counterfeited, the business of editor, where this risk is more likely since the purchaser has not been excluded from counterfeiting via an express contract, because it would hurt the editor's business if the editor tried to obligate all potential purchasers of the work to agree to a contract forbidding counterfeiting, because potential purchases would generally not consent to such an agreement and therefore would be less likely to purchase a copy of the work. ”

“ Would an editor attempt to bind everybody who purchased his work to the condition, to be accused of embezzling the property of another entrusted to him, if, either intentionally, or by the purchaser's lack of oversight, the copy which the purchaser purchased were used for the purpose of counterfeiting? ”

“ The United States continues to urge trading partners to undertake more effective criminal and border enforcement against the manufacture, import, export, transit, and distribution of pirated and counterfeited goods. USTR engages with its trading partners through bilateral consultations, trade agreements, and international organizations to help ensure that penalties, such as significant monetary fines and meaningful sentences of imprisonment, are available and applied so as to have a deterrent effect on counterfeiting and piracy. ”

“ It is true that amended § 3 forbids the interstate transportation of forged and counterfeited securities, and forging and counterfeiting tools, 'With unlawful or fraudulent intent,' while the earlier proscribed transportation of stolen goods, securities and money is not required in terms to be done with such an intent, but only with knowledge that they have been stolen. ”

“ Between friends, though, I’m neither a crook nor a detective, but just a common or garden boob—like yourself.”
“They must be worried, the outfit upstairs?”
“Yes, I guess they’re lying awake nights, some of ’em. For don’t you see, a man can play with the counterfeit chips, and if he loses, no matter. But if he wins they pay him real chips and he is in right. He goes on calmly playing with the bank’s own money. Oh, it’s a cinch! And the point of the joke is that there is no law against it. You’re not counterfeiting money, you’re counterfeiting counters. And for gambling purposes, too. ”

“ Bold black propaganda operations can often embarrass the enemy. The dropping of a few hundred tons of well counterfeited currency would tend to foul up any fiscal system. Peacetime counterfeiters operate with poor materials, secretly, and in small shops. When instructed, a government agency can do an astoundingly good job of counterfeiting. The United States is on the vulnerable side of this operation, because our money happens to be the most trusted and most widely hoarded in the world. ”