Funny you sould voice some of my own reservations ...
I'll start from the premise that 'countrefeits are bad.' OK, wonderful - but where do we go from there?
Well, yuo can learn a lot from the boys at Square D. First to fire up the 'anti-counterfeit' bandwagon, it's easy to overlook how such an effort neatly ties in with their overall business plan: to sell products that can only use parts made by them AND sold through their network. Just like the plumbing companies, they have gone to great lengths to prevent (or impede) the use of other folks' stuff in their panels.
Hence the entire 'classified breaker' fiasco, where Square D did it's absolute best to misrepresent UL's position and misuse the NEC. Pure marketing camoflaged as a concern for our safety.
Their PR machine has made sure that we hear about their legal actions against counterfeit vendors. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the efforts are focused on those who sell Square D without Square D's blessing. Since Square D has 'protected' dealers and territories, these actions also enforce the company's business plans.
Looking closer at the press releases, all we see are assertions that the parts were counterfeit. When pictures are provided, they show 'today's counterfeit' as something that looks just like 'last years' model.' You and I sure can't tell the difference.
IMO. This simply isn't enough. I'd like them to also say something like 'We had UL test these, and their performance wasn't up to par.' Ever notice that they never tell us that the counterfeits don't work - they only ask you 'how can you be sure?'
For all I know, these 'counterfeits' are coming right off the same production lines as the 'real' ones, but are simply being marketed outside "official" channels.
Even if they are shoddy imitations .... one doesn't bang them together in their garage. One needs an expensive factory filled with custom equipment. We're talking serious investment.
Nor can we overlook the political component. In contrast to the US, most countries are extremely involved in regulating their export industries. It's simply not possible to churn out all these counterfeits without the approval of their governemnts- and the implied protection of their armies.
If you want to stop counterfeits, then the answer is in the political arena. The ads you see might get your attention, but are completely ineffective.
They.ve since made a big fuss over
