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"Code
431.322.12 of the Internet Privacy Act signed by Bill Clinton in
1995" is cited at the main page or in the disclaimer portion of
many Web sites which are running criminal enterprises and offering
illegal items.
The
Internet Privacy Act does not exist!
Additionally, former U, S. President William Jefferson Clinton never
signed into law any legislation
which in any manner restricts anyone's access to Web sites selling
illegal items. No similar law exists anywhere in the
world. There is no law which in any way prohibits or restricts
instituting criminal charges or litigation against such sites based
upon a site's posting of this imaginary act.. Regardless of a
posting of this fictitious act, any
information obtained from these sites may be used by law enforcement
and trademark holders for prosecution and litigation purposes.
Every Web site we have visited which displays this spurious
statement has been conducting criminal activities, usually offering
illegal counterfeit products or illegal drugs. In most cases,
persons buying such illegal replicas in quantity (or buying illegal
drugs) from these sites can be criminally prosecuted and sued for
damages.
A typical example of a statement appearing on these sites
erroneously claiming protection from this fictitious act is as
follows:
If you are affiliated with any
government, police, anti-piracy group or other related group or
working for Adidas, Manolo Blahnik, Converse, Louis Vuitton, Chanel,
Burberry, Hermes, Prada, Air Jordan, Nike, Timberland, Gucci,
Cartier, Oakley either directly or indirectly, or any other related
group, or were formally a worker, you CANNOT enter these web pages,
links, nor access any of its files and you cannot view any of the
HTML files. If in fact you are affiliated or were affiliated with
the above said companies, by entering this site you are not agreeing
to these terms and you are violating code 431.322.12 of the Internet
Privacy Act signed by Bill Clinton in 1995 and that means that you
CANNOT threaten our ISP(s) or any person(s) or company storing these
files, and cannot prosecute any person(s) affiliated with this
website.
Statements such as the one above
provide absolutely no legal protection for the criminals operating
the Web site, the ISP or the Web site customers. It should be
obvious to even the most naïve surfers that statements of this ilk
clearly indicate that goods being offered at these sites are illegal
and that by purchasing such items the surfers may be engaging in
criminal activity and may, themselves, be tracked and prosecuted.
In addition to the fictitious Internet Privacy Act post, many of
these sites also include disclosures such as the following:
This site is in no way
affiliated with, representing, associated or sponsored by Adidas,
Air Jordan, Burberry, Chanel, Converse, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton,
Manolo Blahnik, Nike, Prada, Timberland, Oakley or any other above
mentioned name brands or their products. We do not represent
our replica products to be original nor do we represent that they
are exact copies and they are being sold only for novelty or
educational purposes, therefore, they do not violate any copyright
laws.
This, too, is meaningless and
offers neither the seller nor the buyer any legal protection
whatsoever. Disregarding the fact that these criminals often
use the word copyright--rather than trademark--it is irrelevant
whether or not illegal replicas are allegedly being sold for novelty
or educational purposes. The crime is being perpetrated
against the manufacturer who holds the trademark, not the consumer,
and it makes no difference that counterfeit products are not being
represented as originals. This violates federal and state statutes.
There are many perfectly legitimate Web sites which sell items that
look like name brand products--but do not
bear the names or logos of the name brand items they imitate.
These are not
illegal counterfeits. For instance, a pair of sunglasses may
be similar in style to a pair of Oakleys, but as long as they do not
bear the trademarked Oakley name or elongated "O"
logo they are perfectly legal. However, Web sites that offer
these legal lookalikes normally do not post the phony Internet
Privacy Act.
Since it has been shown that profits from the sale of counterfeit
products often funds terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and
Al Quada, law enforcement has become more aggressive in going after
those dealing in illegal replicas--and in some cases the consumers
who are inadvertently supporting terrorism. An "Internet
Privacy Act" notice posted on a Web site should act as a
red flag to surfers and we advise consumers to avoid having any
dealings with these criminals.
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