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Alibaba founder calls for tougher counterfeiting laws
Fiona
2017-03-15 23:36:09
Jack Ma, the executive chairman and founder of
China-based e-commerce site Alibaba, has urged Chinese legislators to toughen
laws and penalties for counterfeiting in the country.
Alibaba’s news site,Alizila, published details of
Ma’s appeal to the Chinese government today, March 7.
According to the release, Ma published a blog post on
social media site Weibo asking the Chinese authorities to treat counterfeiters
and counterfeiting with the same imperative as they did when they successfully
cracked down on drink-driving several years ago.
“Similar to five years ago, if the debates and
controversies had never happened around drunk driving, society would not have
agreed on the proper legal penalties,” Ma wrote.
He added: “For example, if the penalty for even one fake
product manufactured or sold was a seven-day prison sentence, the world would
look very different, both in terms of IP enforcement and food and drug safety,
as well as our ability to foster innovation.”
In the post, Ma alluded to other countries which had
“stricter laws against counterfeiting” and mentioned that in the US, first-time
offenders can be sentenced up to ten years in prison and repeat offenders can
face up to 20 years' imprisonment.
According to Ma, in China counterfeiters do not bear
“criminal responsibility” for fake goods worth less than RMB 50,000 ($7,240).
He explained that the maximum prison term for anything
above that amount is seven years.
“This is a 20-year-old law and a ten-year-old judicial
interpretation, severely out-of-date from reality, resulting in 99% of
counterfeit activities bearing no consequences at all,” added Ma.
Last year, law enforcement agencies “poured tremendous
resources” into anti-counterfeiting, but because of “lax” existing laws, they
couldn’t bring criminals to justice, he explained.
Ma said that if the government decided to “tighten the
laws”, the ability to combat fakes and heighten public awareness would be
positively affected.
“Modifying and improving the law is a serious matter, but
it is also a lengthy and complicated process. We will continue to fight and
call for a counterfeit-free world for our children and ourselves,” Ma
concluded.
On February 27,TBOreportedthat Alibaba had
appealed for heavier penalties against counterfeiters.
The e-commerce company asked for “stricter
enforcement” and “stiffer penalties” to crack down on counterfeiters in China.