First off what the hell is the Homeland Security Department doing with anything regarding trademarks, copywright, etc… Protect my ass, not companies, within the united states from outside attacks (the physical kind that involve people dying, not their over gratuitous incomes). Second, you can’t sue an individual for buying fake anything, you can however sue the seller, if they actualy use you’re exact trademark. Although I guess why not just fine joe schmoe on home soil instead of incuring any actualy costs when the legal system fully warreats it? Also lets give a big round of applause to whatever idiot made the site where the originating article is hosted. You’re a news agency, this means you should make all information that you have accessable to anyone, anytime; having to sumbit any information to you to continue on to the end of an article is just plain !)#*%ing idiotic.

Uh, I thought the EU had rules that stated that parallel importing is legal from within another EU country.

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

Dear Republican National Committee,

Your donation check is in the mail. Keep up the good work!

Rolex Corporation USA

Good thing they didnt look in his other bag. As I understand he had 4 kilos of cocaine. Sounds like it cost him $55k to make $250k.

International Property Rights. I love to bring back an occasional watch replica — But I never kid myself into thinking it is either right or legal.

What is really funny — is if you go to China – and buy Fake Rolex watches – and pay them with counterfit American money 🙂

He should have got some cheap Rolex look alikes at WAL-MART. They are the same exact chinese watches except they don’t have the Rolex logo on them.

While I admit that the authorities may have taken this a little to far to “set an example” The guy was clearly not the brightest bulb. EVERY single time I have traveled abroad, on the way back(usually on the aircraft) I was given a customs declaration form to fill out. He should have read the fine print. Also going all the way to China to buy fake Rolexes is kind of stupid, when you can buy them in the market district of any major US city. That being said, there are PLENTY of very high quality watches around that are much lower priced and keep way better time than a real Rolex. I would not give a fake watch, handbag etc. to any of my family members. Maybe to a co-worker as a gag gift, that’s about it.

Ok, who has traveled abroad and not bought a fake Rolex?? I prefer the one’s made in Hong Kong they tend to be of a better quality. I have had one for 10 years and have 8 other ones to wear as well. But the old saying is don’t do the crime if you can’t pull the time. ( Or pay the money)

That poor man, I feel that the worst case scenario, he should have to ship the items back, and/or maybe have the option of serving in jail for a month, Community service for 160 hours , or pay $5000 total in fines one of those three (worst case one of those). (We have rapist and murders that get off easier than that, that’s how messed up our government is) Basically what’s happening is the government is punishing a man, for taking pennies from a major corporation. I think that the governments’ way of “making an example” of that man is absolutely infuriating and disappointing. In 20 years they’ll probably bring back hanging, shooting people, or forcing them into slave labor(prison for minor crimes which they have now) and then “making an example” will take on a new face. The government is slowly starting to oppress the people (it’s no secret). Which if I’m wrong is why we revolted against the British to begin with, due to taxes (very high now), and strict laws which (we have now example above). Now we’re having that all happen over again in modern times it’s called justice and contributing to your country’s oppressive power it’s only a matter of time before people just need to wake up and protest about everything it’s has to stop… Things like these need to stop It’s ridiculous the government was basically designed to protect the people, not legally make them slaves (my point of view) or take their hard earned money. Just a thought from a peasant but really land of the free should be land of the legally oppressed. I hate to say that but look around you. Rich people sure they love how everything is working out but, everyone else well tough luck go to college (good luck finding a decent job unless you mom or dad has some pull). Another thing is it’s easy to inherit a business but to create one now is near impossible thanks to all the laws.

First, the obvious crime was importing in sufficient quantity to suggest it was a reseller operation. (Like drugs, I assume if you are caught with sufficient quantities, there’s an automatic assumption in law of “trafficking”). Where do you draw the line? 1, 3, 5, 10? If it’s too high, the smuggler could just recruit large families of “mules”.
Secondly, when you go through customs, all bets are off. They can ask you questions that are illegal for officers on the street. If you are a foreigner, they can arbitraily refuse you entry and then you have to (a) return home at your own expense and (b) file expensive papers to beg for the right to be let into the land of the free. If you lie on the customs form, all bets are off; so you MUST incriminate yourself. I bet he was clever enough to tell them “oh, yeah, I have a few fake rolexes” and the customs guy was having a bad day.
The real crime here is the made-in-Disneyland IP policy with overly punitive fines. This is the same law, bought and paid for by big business, that says sharing a song is a $50,000 crime, with no proof of any damages required. (The constitutionality argument is winding through the courts still – is this cruel and unusual punishment?).
The real lesson in fakes is, what is the real value of an item? If I can slap “Prada” or “Rolex” or “Gucci” on something and it looks like it’s worth 100 times more, something is wrong.
Oddly, Canal street does not sell fake Gucci or Armani suits or Jimmy Cho shoes or BMW cars – the difference between real markup and perceived value is not good enough there, so the difference between “real value” (what most people want to pay for it) and what the real makers charge for it, must be much smaller.
Most brands are just a billboard for status; humans are monkeys fighting for pack dominance and will take the shortcut of fake status symbols to enhance their prestige and appear higher on the tree than they are.

First, I agree with comment 45 and 49. Our country is falling apart in that we are becoming oppressive. Look at Russia so many oppressive laws not to mention total economic meltdown now look at our country we’re beginning to surpass Russia’s laws we now have more laws than Russia and not surprisingly our country’s economy is slipping. We will not recover from this economic downfall. It’s too late I believe it is anyway. Its thanks to Judges such as this one due to their inability to be lenient (more so in other cases) and we are all suffering for it. I would gladly give up my citizenship from America to a country such as Canada or France free socialized healthcare, education (look at the statistics Google it most of them have their homes paid for, and don’t have bills) and a more lenient intelligent judicial system.

Your’re half right, with the big rich cooperations in the US, it is like facism. but a more correct term would be monarchy, with couple of more rich kings in the same country.

Rolex is a SWISS company…. US laws to not protect them no more than the Swiss goveornment gave a rats ass about all the US money laundering through its swiss bank accounts

Hah. That is the funniest question posed in the history of any thread commentary, ever!

How would I feel about this story (or fakes in general) if I owned a Rolex? I own a real Rolex, btw!

Um, I wouldn’t care. I couldn’t care less if companies rolled fake Rolexes out of the warehouses quicker than the US Mint prints Benjamins.

Dan Hackman
Bloomington, MN

So is that why something cost $200 must cost £200 in the UK? We get a bad deal in the uk with all the stealth tax VAT, food and fuel and cost of living increase even so everything is going down the pan.
I remember last time I went to the states and told the holiday firm how much I took home and they said am I poor which I replied no that’s the average wage in the uk I noticed that the same job I did in the US paid about nearly double in dollars to the UK.

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It’s illegal because it diminishes the value of a genuine Rolex. For a company with such high esteem and sells the Brand name just as much as the watches themselves, flooding the market with fakes affects the desired image and prestige of owning a real one, something Rolex has worked hard to establish over the years. It’s like buying a kit car and fooling people into thinking it’s a Lamborghini. If you work hard to buy one, you dont want people getting dap for a knockoff, not to mention the value of an original. It’s all about brand recognition, that’s where their profits lie.

If you buy a replica from noob factory which is one of the best replica builders you won’t see any difference. Even the laser logo at the 6 o clock position is there. Fot this ultimate AAA+ version you have to pay 400-600 USD, but it’s every penny worth. I have my GMT Master 2 since 2 years now and there is no scratch or something other issue.

There is only one difference between a original Rolex and a replica.

One is made in Switzerland and the other made in China – That’s all