Counterfeit Cisco Gear Showing Up In US 182
spazimodo writes to point out a Network World report on the growing problem of counterfeit networking equipment. The article surveys the whole grey-market phenomenon, which is by no means limited to Cisco gear — they just happen to be its biggest target. From the article: "Thirty cards turned out to be counterfeit... Despite repeated calls and e-mails to his supplier, Atec Group, the issue was not resolved... How did a registered Cisco reseller (also a platinum Network Appliance partner and gold partner to Microsoft and Symantec) acquire the counterfeit [WAN interface cards] in the first place?... Phony network equipment [has] been quietly creeping into sales and distribution channels since early 2004... Counterfeit gear has become a big problem that could put networks — and health and safety — at risk. 'Nobody wants to say they've got counterfeit gear inside their enterprises that can all of a sudden stop working. But it's all over the place, just like pirated software is everywhere,' says Sharon Mills, director of IT procurement organization Caucus."
Photography gear (Score:4, Informative)
Even reputable shops like Adorama will sell you 'grey' prosumer Nikon digital SLRs for example. The difference is the lack of a US-actionable warranty and funky things like manuals in Turkish and whatnot... but other than that the gear is largely the same (be careful who you buy from anyway!). These things typically go for about 10% less than the 'straight' ones.
I've bought a couple of high-end Canon lenses this way and I haven't been burned yet, but I probably won't be doing it anymore. Too much risk.
Re:Just FUD? (Score:4, Informative)
So this stuff definitely does exist.
BOFH (Score:1, Informative)
A BOFH column for every need. Here, the Bastard has to deal with "Crisco" brand switches.
http://members.iinet.com.au/~bofh/newbofh/bofh3dec 97.html [iinet.com.au]
not quite as bad... (Score:4, Informative)
Looks (Score:1, Informative)
It should be EASY to track. (Score:5, Informative)
You buy them from a store. The store has to have them on hand or order them. Either way, since the store you're buying them from did not make them, shipment will be required.
So just keep following each shipment back until you find the company that manufactured the parts or the company that "cannot find their records".
There, problem solved.
Re:Just FUD? (Score:3, Informative)
Whether or not this is what happened in this particular case, I don't know. But in general, the issue is not that someone has taken the time to reverse-engineer a complete product and produce it again from the ground up. The "fake" hardware likely comes from any combination of several places:
Re:Photography gear (Score:1, Informative)
I disagree. Grey markey items are the same hardware that came off the same production line at Canon. Canon (like most companies) wants to maximize profit, so they charge more for the exact same product in a wealthy country (USA) than a poorer country (Poland). What stops a US retailer from going to Poland and buying 50 canon cameras? Nothing. Then they pass the savings on to you.
Reputable photo shops like Adorama and B&H Photo clearly label their grey-market goods and will honor the warranty themselves.
It's the scummy shops that pass off grey-market goods as regular, leaving you high & dry if you need warranty service.
Most Cisco hardware not ASIC accelerated (Score:4, Informative)
Re:not just FUD - shortcuts by sub-sub contractors (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Folex or illegal production? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Folex or illegal production? (Score:4, Informative)
Now, I don't know if this was a special case, but surely somebody figured out that some of these parts are generic parts and is selling them with phony Cisco papers and making a tidy profit.
Grey vs Black market (Score:3, Informative)
The summary refers to this as "grey-market", which it doesn't seem to be. Grey market goods are legitimate goods sold outside the authorized distribution channels, it could be imported from outside the US (think Canadian Pharmacies, though many of those are fake [cyveillance.com]), it could be bought on the cheap to be resold [ebay.com]. The Key being Grey market goods are by definition the "real thing", obtained legally but resold without the backing of the maker. Its up to company policies then whether they will support grey market goods. On the other hand, Black market goods may not legally obtained, may not be legal for possession, or may not be what they are represented as being, and are certainly not supported by their "makers". Note that "black market" goods might be represented as "grey market", turns out purveyers of black market goods tend to be dishonest in their dealings.
So which is it? A fake Rolex that actually has a $0.25 quartz movement inside? Or the real deal in terms of functionality and hardware, being made somehow without Cisco's approval and without going through their distribution chain?
Either way the part is called "counterfeit". When it breaks, Cisco won't support it. A Fake Rolex w/ a cheap Quartz movement will likely keep time better than a knock off that tried to replicate the delicate and intricate movement of a true "automatic" watch. If it was made w/o Cisco's approval, they likely made it w/ substandard components and w/o the proper QA procedures, so they can actually make money when the sell it at a deep discount. What do they care, they don't have to worry about supporting it.
Re:It's apparently a life-threatening problem! (Score:2, Informative)