CEO DATELINE - Three members leave anticounterfeiting group after Chinese retailer joins
CEO DATELINE - Three members leave anticounterfeiting group after Chinese retailer joins
- May 13, 2016 |
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Walt Williams
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Three prominent members of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition pulled out of the group last month after it admitted into its membership a Chinese online retailer notorious for selling knock-off clothing and other products.
IACC's decision to allow Alibaba Group Holding into its membership angered fashion brands Michael Kors Holdings and Gucci America, which withdrew from the group in protest, the Wall Street Journal reported. Jeweler Tiffany & Co. also left but didn't say why it decided to quit.
IACC is a Washington, D.C.-based coalition that includes several trade associations among its membership, including the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The coalition's mission, according to its website, it to "combat counterfeiting and piracy by promoting laws, regulations, directives and relationships designed to render the theft of intellectual property undesirable and unprofitable."
Alibaba is essentially China's equivalent of Amazon.com. The difference is the former has long been criticized for selling counterfeit products through its online stores. Among the company's chief critics is the American Apparel & Footwear Association, which in the past has accused Alibaba of dragging its feet on implementing anticounterfeiting measures. (AAFA is not a member of the coalition.)
Alibaba has promised to take more steps to stop the sale of counterfeit products through its stores. Company founder Jack Ma is scheduled to speak at the coalition's spring conference in Orlando about how e-commerce companies can collaborate with other industries to fight intellectual property theft.
IACC said its board voted unanimously in favor of admitting Alibaba into its membership, the newspaper reported. The group also said it stands by the decision because marketplaces must be part of the effort to stop the sale of fake goods. http://on.wsj.com/24W8psd
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