I've been in touch with Reggie Pierce, the CEO of a company called IP Lasso, which chases down counterfeit web content on behalf of brand-name clients.
Defendants Juan Romero, 68, of Upland, and Leslie Roman, 61, of Rancho Cucamonga, owned labeling companies and often used code words like "michelada," "juice blend" and "spices" to refer to the counterfeit liquid contents, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
A recent study found that Web sites offering pirated digital content or counterfeit goods, like illicit movie downloads or bootleg software, record 53 billion hits per year.
There is a growing problem that entertainment and technology companies face across the world: rogue websites that profit from stolen content and counterfeit goods.
Counterfeit claims against Instagram content rose steadily in the first half of 2017, with June's complaint number (2,191 reports) higher than the number of complaints filed for Facebook in April and close to other months.
Google and others used the black censorship bars to draw attention to what had until recently been an obscure and technical legislative proposal to curb access to overseas websites that traffic in stolen content or counterfeit goods.
With the piracy debate, they came together to argue that bills designed to shut down access to overseas websites trafficking in stolen content or counterfeit goods were too broad.
In a statement provided to HuffPost, Franken says the bill "an important jobs issue," insisting that, "The online sale of copyrighted content and counterfeit goods hurts American workers and businesses, and it ultimately means lost jobs".
For some scams, such as phishing and counterfeit goods shops, the duplicated content remains nearly identical.
Recent research by Ipsos suggests that almost 30% of the UK population is active in some form of piracy, either through streaming content online or buying counterfeit DVDs.
