Businesses have to produce own goods and brands to survive

JACK MA, founder of domestic e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, provoked discussion online when he said in a recent speech that the e-business model enables original equipment manufacturers to sell goods of similar quality to those of international brands but at much cheaper prices. But Southern Metropolis Daily says the idea is more important than the manufacturing process and it involves intellectual property rights:

What should be discussed in detail is that some of the OEMs are ignorant of brand owners' IPR and simply copy the styles of international brands without authorization. There are loopholes in the law that can be easily exploited.

Alibaba is a victim of fake goods, too, as the credit of its e-commerce platform, Taobao.com, has suffered. Ma even said he had a team of 2,000 that sought to combat piracy and fake goods. We do not mean to blame e-commerce, but it has made it more convenient for illegal businesses to sell fake goods, especially when online policing of sales remains sketchy.