Spotting Counterfeit Chips Is Hard; Spotting Digital Piracy Is Even Harder
from the harder-than-it-looks dept
One of the favorite techniques of those pushing for ever-more severe penalties for copyright infringement is to blur the distinction between analog counterfeits and digital copies. The argument then becomes: "counterfeit drugs can kill people, therefore we must come down hard on online filesharing." This trick can be seen most clearly in ACTA, which stands for "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement", but where the most problematic sections concern digital piracy, not counterfeits.
That false equivalence between counterfeits and digital copies is also employed to give the impression that since cheap knock-offs are pretty obvious, it's easy to tell the difference between a legal digital file, and one that is unauthorised. However, unauthorised digital files are generally exact copies of authorised ones, making it impossible to tell them apart. What counts is whether the distribution is authorized, and there are all kinds of legal considerations like fair use or Creative Commons licensing that can make it very hard to tell without detailed legal scrutiny in a court.
Even the assumption that physical copies are relatively easy to spot is dubious, as this fascinating essay from Andrew 'bunnie' Huang about counterfeit chips in military hardware explains. Here's the background:
Amendment 1092 to the Defense Authorization Act of 2012 is a well-intentioned but misguided provision outlining measures designed to reduce the prevalance of counterfeit chips in the US military supply chain.
Huang then runs through the myriad ways in which counterfeits can be produced – and why spotting them is hard.
< ...>
Under the proposed anti-counterfeit amendment, first-time offenders can receive a $5 million fine and 20 years prison for individuals, or $15 million for corporations; a penalty comparable to that of trafficking cocaine.
Alongside "trivial external mimicry" – authentic-looking but empty packages – he mentions the following: refurbished parts (authentic parts recovered from e-waste); rebinned parts (authentic but with markings changed to a higher specification); ghost-shift parts (produced in the official factory by employees, but unofficially); factory scrap (rejects and pilot runs recovered from the scrap heap); and second-sourcing gone bad (pin-compatible replacements produced by competitors remarked as superior brands.)
As Huang points out:
It’s one thing to inspect fruits and vegetables as they enter the country for pests and other problems; but it is misguided to require Customs officers to become experts in detecting fakes, and/or to burden vendors with the onus of determining whether parts are authentic, particularly with such high penalties involved and the relative ease that forgers can create high-quality counterfeit parts.
Indeed; and much the same could be said about asking local enforcement authorities or ISPs to detect whether digital copies are legal or not. It's yet another reason why ACTA is likely to have a chilling effect on the legitimate use of copyright materials online, and to throttle the next generation of digital innovation as a result.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: acta, conflation, counterfeits, digital, piracy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Indeed!
Kudos to you Glen.. I've been wondering when I'd finally see that expressed somewhere..
Imo the fact that governments and corporations keep bundling them together is proof it's not actually about either, but wanting control of the internet...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Stop talking about piracy
It's about control, censorship, and monopolies. That is it. So let's stop with this piracy nonsense and focus on the truth of what is really at hand.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Indeed!
[(File)sharing of Unauthorized content ≠ Counterfeiting ≠ Infringement ≠ Theft] is a common one.
[FUC-IT] :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Indeed!
...expressed many times...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Stop talking about piracy
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Public: How will you detect rogue sites?
SOPA pundit: Well hmmm...We are going only after rogue sites that is all.
Public: So you don't know how to detect rogue sites?
SOPA pundit: You are pirate that is why you are questioning the glorious law.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Send in the Lego Space Marines!
ps: Since Lego patents expired now everyone can make their own legos and make money out of it, is that not beautiful?
Why do we need copyrights again?
So that only one guy can claim ownership of the entire market?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Counterfeits in military electronics
Answer: Subcontractors.
Who repairs/upgrades military equipment?
Answer: Subcontractors.
How old is the equipment being upgraded/repaired?
Answer: 10 to 20 years.
How do you get ahold of 10 to 20 year old chips?
Answer: ...ebay?...
The problem here is NOT counterfeiting. It is simple economics. The supplies are out, so the subcontractors use whatever they can get. This is a total red herring.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Counterfeits in military electronics
- lowest bidder
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It's incredibly easy to spot legal digital files - you obtain them from the source, not some third party.
The problem solves itself when you stop dealing with shady middlemen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Counterfeits in military electronics
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
That's the point of digital copies, they are perfect replicas, or the copy process would be flawed. I know I wouldn't want to copy a Word document only to open it and find half the words changed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I am all for this vision...Lets cut Big Media out of the picture!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Is this point of this post your opposition to ACTA? If so, you should target details in the bill, not highlight the fact that it is hard to differentiate authorized distribution of digital copies from infringing distribution. By saying that the distinction is difficult to make you are providing another reason to for companies to avoid releasing their works in the digital format.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]