The NYT must get this straight. With a counterfeit product the buyer is deceived. The buyers of the low-cost cell phone knock-offs in China are not being deceived. They are happily buying copies of name-brand phones which they know are not actual name-brand phones. This distinction is very important for both economic and policy reasons. From an economic standpoint, there are large benefits from the sale of unauthorized copies that do not exist with counterfeit products. From a policy standpoint, the consumer will be an ally in a crackdown on counterfeits. This is not the case with unauthorized copies.
--Dean Baker
