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Read my comment about how there are at least two separable problems in this issue. Perhaps then my position will make sense to you. Continuing to argue throug

Read my comment about how there are at least two separable problems in this issue. Perhaps then my position will make sense to you. Continuing to argue through hypothetical examples is pointless, it's getting sillier and sillier and farther away from key issues. Counterfeit goods is not a victimless crime. It costs jobs. It costs progress. It costs entire industries. Don't blame the victim. Consumers just happen to be caught in the middle of what, at the end of the day, is a political mess. One could argue consumers are the victims of politicians and their terrible policies. That's where this gets complicated and we could end-up understanding that the FTDI problem has its genesis a decade or two ago. I mean, what's FTDI supposed to do? Shut down and let the fakes take the market? What would happen to quality, reliability and support then? A business like FTDI doesn't run on pink unicorns. If fakes destroy their market they are out, a bunch of people lose their jobs and good luck with support for any chip or predictable performance and quality from anyone. The choices we make have consequences in the short and long term. This is just a microcosm of what the world has allowed China to get away with.

kd5bjo 6y ago
> I mean, what's FTDI supposed to do? I’m not saying that FTDI or a similar company should sit idly by, but the vigilante justice you’re advocating leads to bad places. We have customs enforcement to stop goods at the border and a court system to deal with internal disputes; use them.
- robomartin 6y ago
  > We have customs enforcement to stop goods at the border and a court system to deal with internal disputes It's a joke, right? This system has allowed everything from fake hats to fake, well, everything, to come into the country undeterred. Amazon and eBay are full of the stuff. It's so brazen that they are not shipping fakes directly into the US through highly subsidized door-to-door shipping using the US Postal Service. And you want them to police an obscure little chip out of millions that come through the gates? My friend, our system is powerless against the onslaught...and they know it. Sure, a few things get nabbed here and there. This is a rounding error at the scale and breath of what's going on.

kd5bjo 6y ago

> I mean, what's FTDI supposed to do? I’m not saying that FTDI or a similar company should sit idly by, but the vigilante justice you’re advocating leads to bad places. We have customs enforcement to stop goods at the border and a court system to deal with internal disputes; use them.

robomartin 6y ago
> We have customs enforcement to stop goods at the border and a court system to deal with internal disputes It's a joke, right? This system has allowed everything from fake hats to fake, well, everything, to come into the country undeterred. Amazon and eBay are full of the stuff. It's so brazen that they are not shipping fakes directly into the US through highly subsidized door-to-door shipping using the US Postal Service. And you want them to police an obscure little chip out of millions that come through the gates? My friend, our system is powerless against the onslaught...and they know it. Sure, a few things get nabbed here and there. This is a rounding error at the scale and breath of what's going on.