You've likely encountered someone on the street peddling knockoff handbags or pirated DVDs. As far as crimes go, such industry ranks far beneath rape and murder, but it's not without consequence. Counterfeiting has been estimated to cost the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Outside of its effects on the economy, fake goods have cost people their lives and have even been traced to the support of terrorist organizations. And counterfeiting is hardly limited to Louis Vuitton bags and $100 bills—literally anything that can glean a profit is faked, from medicine to food to entire cars.
你可能会在街上遇到兜售冒牌手袋或DVD的摊贩。从犯罪层面上来说,卖伪造品这样的行为与强奸和谋杀相去甚远,但并不代表它不会造成严重后果。据估计,伪造品每年在全球经济中耗资达数百亿美元。除了对经济造成不良影响,假冒伪劣商品还会危及人类的生命,甚至可能成为恐怖组织的发展助力。另外,假冒伪劣产品并不仅限于LV的包或是百元大钞,实际上任何可以赚取利润的东西,比如药物、食物,甚至是车辆,都是可以伪造的。
10.Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10.特级初榨橄榄油
The vast majority of counterfeit goods are meant to imitate expensive items. While olive oil isn't exactly cheap, it would hardly seem to be worth the effort of faking it. However, there is a huge market for counterfeit extra virgin olive oil, typically diluted with lower-quality oils, such as canola. According to Tom Mueller, the author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, "Fifty percent of the olive oil sold in the United States is, in some ways, adulterated." There are various guides available to advise consumers on how to tell the difference between real extra virgin olive oil and diluted imposters, but it is extremely difficult—even under laboratory conditions—to make the classification.
大多数伪造品都是仿造奢侈品品牌的商品。橄榄油虽然不算特别便宜,但似乎也不值得费那么大劲儿去做伪造品。然而冒牌特级初榨橄榄油的市场需求量却相当之大,人们通常用像菜籽油之类的低质油对真品进行稀释以制造这些山寨货。《特纯初榨:高尚而又丑陋的橄榄油世界》的作者汤姆·穆勒指出:"从某些方面看来,在美国出售的橄榄油中,有百分之五十是掺假的。"对此,有很多消费指南都提供了一些建议,教顾客如何辨别初榨橄榄油的真伪。然而这并不是件容易的事,即使是在实验室里,辨别初榨橄榄油的真伪也很困难。
There have been several attempts to curtail the issue. In 2008, there was a huge crackdown in Italy called "Operation Golden Oil" that resulted in the arrests of 63 people and the confiscation of 63 farms. Most of the time, consuming less pure olive oil isn't really a big deal. But in 1981, Spain was rocked by tragedy when rapeseed oil contaminated with aniline (a coal tar extract used as an industrial lubricant) was sold as olive oil. Nearly 700 people died and countless others suffered injuries that included paralysis, organ failure, deformed bones, and neurological problems.
为了减少特级初榨橄榄油造假事件,政府曾采取多项措施。2008年,意大利对橄榄油造假行为严厉打击,展开了"净化橄榄油"行动,最终63人被捕,63个农场被没收。不过在大多数情况下,减少纯橄榄油的用量并不算什么大问题。1981年,西班牙发生了一个举国震惊的悲剧——商人把含有苯胺(焦煤油提取物用作工业润滑油)的菜籽油当做橄榄油售卖,导致近700人死亡,无数人因此瘫痪、器官衰竭、骨骼变形,甚至神经系统受损。
9.比尼娃娃
For those too young to have lived through it, it is difficult to explain how frenzied the market was for Beanie Babies in the mid-to-late '90s. Distributed by Ty Warner Inc., Beanie Babies were a series of small stuffed animals of various species. The immediate appeal is obvious, but Ty played the market by making their product intentionally scarce to drive up demand. Limited quantities were distributed to stores, and models were often "retired," rendering certain specimens extremely valuable.
九十年代中期到末期,人们对比尼娃娃究竟有多狂热,那些太年轻而没经历过的人是无法体会的。泰·沃纳股份有限公司旗下的比尼娃娃是一系列种类多样的小动物毛绒玩具。比尼娃娃一经发售便受到了广大消费者的青睐,但泰·沃纳公司反而严格控制这种毛绒玩具的产量,确保其稀缺性,以此拉动需求,占领市场。店里销售的比尼娃娃数量都受到严格控制,热销的款式往往都会"停产",供不应求的情况使得这些玩偶尤其珍贵。
The craze often got bizarre. In 1999, a divorced couple, unable to split up their extensive Beanie Baby collection on their own, was forced to divide them one at a time on a Las Vegas courtroom floor before a judge. The market has since bottomed out, but the rarest models, such as the limited edition commemorative Princess Diana edition (issued in the wake of her untimely death), are still claimed to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. (This is, of course, untrue—no one would pay that much for a Beanie Baby.)Counterfeit Beanie Babies were inevitable. People even began faking the toy's tags. In 2000, two men were arrested at a banquet hall in Willowbrook, Illinois, after an undercover investigation featuring police, state attorney's detectives, and Ty security staff. Fake Beanies are so common that dozens of websites have sprung up aiming to teach consumers the telltale signs of a forgery. Unlike some other counterfeits, Beanie Babies were even tied to a minor political scandal—1998's "Beaniegate," when United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky was stopped by customs after visiting China on a diplomatic summit with then-President Bill Clinton. Barshefsky was found with approximately 40 fake Beanie Babies in her bags. The contraband was eventually incinerated.
对某事物的狂热追求往往会引发一些稀奇古怪的事。1999年,一对准备离婚的夫妻在分割财产时,因为无法处理大量比尼娃娃的收藏品,被迫将所有比尼娃娃带上了拉斯维加斯的法庭。即使是在市场低靡时期,像戴安娜公主纪念版这样稀有的限量品(在她去世后,仍然发行),据说价值也高达数十万美元。(当然,这肯定不是真的,没有人会用数十万美元买一个比尼娃娃。)出现比尼娃娃仿造品这样的事是无法避免的,有的人甚至开始伪造玩具的标签。2000年,在警方、侦探、泰·沃纳公司安保人员的联合秘密调查下,两个伪造比尼娃娃的人在伊利诺斯州的威洛布鲁克宴会厅被捕。比尼娃娃的仿造品数不胜数,于是各种网站如雨后春笋般出现,旨在教消费者如何辨别商品真伪。和其他品牌的仿造品不同,比尼娃娃甚至还出现在一起政治丑闻——1998年的"比尼门"事件中。美国前贸易代表巴尔舍夫斯基陪同当时的美国总统克林顿访问中国,外交峰会结束后,巴尔舍夫斯基被海关拦截——她的包中装了将近40个比尼娃娃仿制品,最终它们都被焚毁。
8.神户牛肉
Like truffles or caviar, Kobe beef is the very definition of a culinary delicacy, fetching prices over $200 a pound. The exquisitely marbled beef, whose fat has a lower melting point than regular beef, is said to be without peer. However, to call a cut of meat Kobe, there are several restricting conditions: It must come from Tajima cattle born, raised, and slaughtered in the Hyogo Prefecture, among other requirements. Until 2011, Japan did not even export Kobe beef, so unless you'd been to a Tokyo steakhouse, there was no way you'd ever tasted it.
像松露和鱼子酱一样,神户牛肉完全符合美食的定义,每磅200美元不止。神户牛肉精选细嫩的肥牛,其脂肪的熔点比普通牛肉要低,据说是举世无双。然而,除了普遍的牛肉选择标准,用来做神户牛肉的牛还必须满足其他几个限制条件:一定是日本田岛出生,由兵库县饲养并于当地屠宰。到2011年,日本不再出口神户牛肉。所以,除非你去日本的牛排餐厅,不然你是尝不到真正的神户牛肉。
So you might wonder how every other restaurant you go to seems to have a (often exorbitantly expensive) Kobe beef item on their menu. The answer is simple—while the term "Kobe beef" carried legal trademarks in its native Japan, in the United States, the term is wholly unregulated. As long as the restaurant calls it beef, they can feel free to describe it in any way they see fit.In 2012, the USDA relaxed its stance on beef imported from Japan provided the Japanese slaughterhouses were inspected and conformed to all standards upheld by American slaughterhouses. However, the amount of meat actually exported is still incredibly small, and it's difficult to obtain among a sea of imposters. One of the few places in the US to serve legitimate Kobe beef is the Wynn Las Vegas casino, but beware—you'll need deep pockets to enjoy this treat.
那你就会感到疑惑,为什么你去其他餐馆也能在菜单上看到神户牛肉(通常价格也昂贵)?答案非常简单,因为"神户牛肉"这一术语只在日本才拥有合法商标,在美国,就完全不受管制。只要是自家餐馆制作的牛肉,他们想怎么描述牛肉是他们的自由。在2012年,美国农业部放宽了从日本进口牛肉的限制,并且为日本提供了屠宰场。屠宰场都会经过检查并且要符合美国屠宰场的标准。然而,实际出口的神户牛肉数量很少,我们很难尝到正宗的神户牛肉。在美国有几个提供正宗神户牛肉的地方,其中就有拉斯维加斯永利赌场。但你要注意的是——为了享受这种待遇,你得备上足够的钱。
7.避孕套
A great many of us are born as the result of "happy little accidents." Still others have a decidedly more ridiculous origin—the children of fathers who skimped on prophylactics and bought knock-off condoms. In 2013, a Chinese police officer noticed condoms for sale on a website at an exceedingly steep discount. He purchased some for testing, only to discover that they were poor-quality fakes.
我们大多数人的出生都是"美丽的意外",但有少数人,他们的出生无疑是可笑的——他们的父亲不仅在避孕药上克扣,买的还是劣质避孕套。2013年,一个中国警察发现互联网上的避孕套以超低的折扣出售。于是他买了一些用于测试,发现这些避孕套都是些劣质的假货。
The condoms were in turn traced to a series of black market factories in the Fujian, Zhejiang, and Henan provinces. An astonishing 4.65 million condoms were found packaged under recognized brand names like Durex. Another 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of material stood by ready to be wrapped. The racket was actually absurd in its simplicity—the makers purchased raw latex and treated it with cheap lubricant. The condoms were produced for around $0.03 USD and sold for $0.16 USD.The counterfeit rubbers were mostly distributed online but were also peddled through various underground vendors. Perhaps not surprisingly, they also found their way to Africa, an area already ravaged by sexually transmitted diseases. According to Thomas Amedzraof, the Ghanaian Food and Drug Authority, "When we tested those condoms, we found that they are poor quality, can burst in the course of sexual activity, and have holes which expose the users to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease."
通过这些劣质避孕套,警察们顺藤摸瓜,查出了福建,浙江,河南等省的一系列黑工厂。令人震惊的是,工厂有465万个包装好的避孕套用的是像杜蕾斯这样的公认品牌名称,另外还有500kg的材料正准备包装。这种简单的非法买卖很荒谬——制造商购买乳胶,然后用廉价的润滑剂加工。避孕套的造价仅0.03美元,却卖到了0.16美元。劣质避孕套大多分布在网上,但也会兜售给地下供应商。他们将避孕套卖到了性传播疾病流行的非洲,这可能并不令人意外。加纳食品药品监督管理局的托马斯·阿梅德扎伊奥夫表示:"测试这些避孕套的时候,我们发现它们都是劣质产品,在性活动中会破裂,破裂后形成的洞使得使用者面临意外怀孕和染上性传播疾病的危险。"
6.抗疟疾药物
Many cases of counterfeit goods are largely without consequence save for the bottom line of legitimate sellers, but those who fake malaria medication literally have the blood of thousands on their hands. In the Western world, many of us tend to think of malaria as some kind of relic of the past like black plague or polio, but it's still very active, particularly in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 198 million people contracted malaria in 2013, with over 500,000 dying of the illness.
很多情况下防冒品很大程度上不会触犯合法卖家的底线,但造假抗疟疾药物的人手上却沾满了鲜血。在西方国家,我们大部分人都会把疟疾看做过去遗留下来的一种疾病,像黑瘟疫或是小儿麻痹症那样的。但现在疟疾仍然非常活跃,尤其是在非洲地区。据世界卫生组织不完全统计,2013年有一亿九千八百万人身患疟疾,其中超过五十万人因此丧命。
One of the drugs being faked is Coartem, a regimen of 24 pills taken over three days developed by pharmaceutical company Novartis. Coartem vastly reduces the mortality rate of malaria. Although the drug is often provided either free or deeply subsidized, huge numbers of fake pills are being imported to Africa from China. In most places in Africa, there is very little control over pharmaceuticals, and they are often peddled on the street. Counterfeit pills have been found in at least 11 different African countries that contained very little Coartem or none at all, a problem which is reportedly on the rise according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
作为抗疟疾药物中的一种,复方蒿甲醚也不可避免的有了假货。这是一种由制药公司诺华公司制造的抗疟疾药品,24片一疗程,一个疗程3天。复方蒿甲醚能够极大地减少疟疾死亡率。尽管该药品多为免费提供或者大量补助,但仍有大量假药从中国输入了非洲。在非洲大部分地区,药物监管很不到位,常有人在大街上兜售药物。非洲至少有11个不同的国家都发现了假药,假药内的复方蒿甲醚含量非常少,甚至根本没有。据报道,美国国家生物技术信息中心称此问题正在日益恶化。