Episode details

Going going gone...?: One of the 'net's great success stories, eBay, has put buyers in contact with sellers, cutting out the middleman and revolutionising the market in second-hand goods. Now the online auction has run into legal trouble, taken to task in both Europe and the United States for aiding the sale of counterfeit goods. According to luxury goods manufacturers, the 'net has taken over as the channel of choice for counterfeit goods. Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, Comité Colbert: "Since 2003-2004 we have seen an explosion in the circulation of counterfeit goods on the internet completely parallel with the development of the internet and online selling." Marc Antoine Jamet, chairman of the Union des Fabricants: "Previously, people bought fake goods in China, came back with them. They were caricatures rather than copies. It was all very limited. "Now on eBay from a child's bedroom, from an office, cybercafe, anyone can buy anything. Because of the internet counterfeiting has become globalis