Brand owners and intermediaries have to work together against the infiltration of fake goods into the global supply chain. So says Jeffrey Hardy, Director of Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP). That’s part of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Mr Hardy said: “Establishing and enforcing clear contract terms, knowing who is trading on their platform, identifying and guarding against high-risk behaviour patterns, and adopting automated risk management tools are all tried-and-true business practices that are already available to online platforms today. Consistent and enduring application of these practices on all platforms is the best supply chain defence against online counterfeiting and the best consumer protection from fraud.
“Legitimate online platforms – from e-commerce websites to social networks – are being exploited to sell counterfeits and enable illegal downloads of copyrighted material. Counterfeits have crept into legitimate online platforms and it’s nearly impossible for shoppers to determine what’s real and what’s fake.
“Industry co-operation would help reduce the risk of illegal content that violates intellectual property rights. At the end of the pipeline, it’s the customer who’s harmed by fakes and it’s the brands, artists and creators whose reputation and trust that are jeopardised.”
The BASCAP document recommends best practices for removing fakes from online platforms:
Outline clear terms of service prohibiting use of a platform to sell or otherwise trade in counterfeit or infringing products or services.
Stronger enforcement of the terms of service between platform owners and traders.
Implement due diligence checks by platform owners to ensure a basic understanding of who is trading on their platform.
Adopt automated risk management tools appropriate to the business to identify high-risk behaviours and potential red flags.
On that due diligence, the four-page advice paper suggests the checks by platform owners to ensure a basic understanding of who is trading on their platform, including contact information listing true name and street address, as well as banking details or other identity checks and verification practices. These steps could form part of wider verification, for example against credit card fraud. The document suggests machine learning and big-data analysis to identify higher risk profile owners, looking for patterns of unusual trading and connections between apparently unrelated profile owners. And ask for more information from profile owners about their identity and the source of their goods where risk analysis identifies higher risk cases.
For the BASCAP report visit http://www.iccwbo.org/Advocacy-Codes-and-Rules/BASCAP/International-engagement-and-Advocacy/Online-platforms/.
