Chinese Man Gets 30 Months For Fake Cisco Sales 161
alphadogg writes "A Chinese man was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a US prison this week for trafficking in counterfeit Cisco Systems gear. Yongcai Li, 33, will also have to pay the networking company nearly $800,000 in restitution after being the conduit for hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of counterfeit computer hardware, the FBI said Friday. Prosecutors said he procured the fake gear in China and then sent it to co-conspirators in the US. His alleged co-conspirators have not been charged. Li was arrested by FBI agents on Jan. 9, 2009, in Las Vegas — while the annual Consumer Electronics Show was taking place there. Two years ago, the FBI claimed to have seized more than $78 million worth of counterfeit equipment in more than 400 seizures."
Bastards (Score:5, Insightful)
And why not? These guys should be getting just as much time as the other dude.
Good thing... (Score:5, Insightful)
Good thing he didn't download a music album instead. He might of ended up with 3 times that fee.
Re:Bastards (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Signals little for Google et. al. (Score:5, Insightful)
The only reason the Chinese govt got involved was pressure from the FBI. The only reason the FBI got involved is that some of those fake Cisco routers had a modified IOS with a backdoor password. I have a suspicion that the Chinese govt was actually involved in selling the compromised counterfeit equipment.
This and many other examples, are why the security specialists highly recommend formatting any new computers or equipment and installing fresh software/firmware from a known good source.
Re:What constitutes "fake" hardware? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a lot that can go wrong with counterfeit hardware, even if it's made in the same factory. Out-of-spec components can be used in place of the high quality ones originally specified by the Cisco engineers. Cheap lead-based solder could be used with the RoHS label. Speeding up the production process can lead to shoddy workmanship. They probably aren't paying inspectors to check the assemblies. Toxic waste could be dumped in the garbage.
So not only does this make for a trouble-prone product for the customer, it also costs Cisco extra. A customer who paid for a box labeled Cisco is going to expect the same customer service as one who purchased actual legitimate Cisco hardware. They're going to send the crappy boxes in for warranty replacements on Cisco's nickel. And if the quality is sub-par they're going to be complaining about crappy Cisco hardware when it's not Cisco's fault, affecting their brand image.
In some cases the counterfeiters are fencing stolen but legitimate merchandise, but in most cases they're producing low-quality knock-offs.
Re:What constitutes "fake" hardware? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What constitutes "fake" hardware? (Score:1, Insightful)
On top of all this, this kind of story will hurt Cisco's brand image as well. Next time you go out to buy something from a small electronics store, you may decide to go with a different brand since you know for a fact that many counterfeit Cisco products have been packaged and sold as the real thing.
If you see an actual Cisco device at a retail shop, and buy it for anything other than learning/private lab purposes... you're a moron. Cisco doesn't retail Cisco gear, they retail Linksys gear.
The only way that clown managed to make any money is idiot managers who think that buying enterprise-grade devices from back alley salesmen is a good idea.
And to be blunt, if you buy from Cisco themselves, you don't give a shit where it was made because you have a support contract, and anything that goes wrong can be RMA'd.
So the only people who will change their purchasing habits are the jerks who are already making risky purchases... which will only help Cisco's bottom line.
win win for Cisco (Score:5, Insightful)
Farm out production to cheap labor in a country that has little regard for IP. Cisco wins
Get FBI and US justice department to enforce and foot the bill for counterfeiting under the guise of "National security". Cisco wins
In both cases, Cisco wins and in all cases the US citizens lose. We foot the bill, lose the jobs, get Chinese made equipment in our government and pay with tax dollars to support Ciscos business decision.
China's preferred trade partner status (Score:2, Insightful)
And yet China continues to be a preferred trade partner to the "free" world. What the hell does this even mean anymore? They poison our children with first lead, then cadmium laced jewellery, they hack our networks an infest them with malware/spyware, force labor upon their own children, yet they are our "friends" because we can buy their crap for cheap and sell it at Walmart.
Isn't it time to reevaluate our trade partner status with this country that is set on deceiving us with every opportunity they get?
Re:What constitutes "fake" hardware? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bastards (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:win win for Cisco (Score:2, Insightful)
Thank you, at least someone wrote up this point. That's the main question I have about this story. Why are my tax dollars going to enforce profitability for Cisco? If the people who got cheap networking equipment feel that they were wronged, let them bring a civil suit or let Cisco file suit on their behalf and on their own dime. You'll notice that criminal sentencing does not provide any restitution to those that were scammed. If the FBI has the time to act as corporate security guards, they need to be downsized accordingly and stop wasting our money.
Re:Bastards (Score:4, Insightful)
"Outside the US"? You don't think it happens elsewhere? What do you think informing on your neighbors is all about?