Feds seize $4.8 million in fake Super Bowl merchandise
The federal government is becoming more an more sensitive to pirated live feeds of sporting and entertainment events and counterfeit merchandise. The black markets for each of these “industries” are massive and have unique lives of their own.
As the Super Bowl approaches, the U.S. Feds have seized over $4.8 million in fake Super Bowl merchandise, and also shut down over 300 live streaming, sports-focused websites.
Acting under the moniker Operation Fake Sweep, federal authorities seized a total of 42,000 counterfeit items including caps, jerseys and other sports memorabilia from a wide variety of vendors across the country– a total that is up from the $3.4 million in counterfeit items seized prior to last year’s Super Bowl.
Over 300 live websites either accused of selling fake merchandise or providing access to illegal streaming were shut down today as well.
This effort from the Feds comes on the heels of the take-down of massive online file-sharing site MegaUpload and the U.S.’ attempt to extradite its founder Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz back to the country from New Zealand to face multiple piracy charges. Before the shutdown, MegaUpload allegedly had as many as 50 million unique visitors per day, a number that would be almost 5% of the total internet traffic on a given day.
Sites like MegaUpload and the counterfeit sporting goods and live streaming sites take advantage of legitimate businesses who are trying to operate with sound business ethics. While buying a knock-off hat, or catching a stream of a game that you can’t find on television is certainly tempting, it’s not necessarily ethical.
While the Feds’ efforts in this instance are laudable, it’s hard to believe that their efforts have truly made much of a dent. The internet is so massive that there is always another shady operation waiting in the wings to fill in the gap.
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