Alibaba Joins Non-Profit Organization To Fight Against Counterfeit

Alibaba becomes a member of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition to get rid of fakes from its online market

Alibaba will be the first online retailer to turn into a member of the biggest non-profit international organization that fights against piracy and counterfeit goods, part of the effort of the Chinese e-commerce company to shed its reputation as haven for cheap brand knockoffs.

The Hangzhou based organization is now part of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, which introduced a recent kind of membership for “intermediaries” like online markets where fakes – anything from sports memorabilia and designer purses to headphones – can thrive.

The company reaches over 400 million online buyers in China, majority through its Taobao and Tmall websites. Two years ago, Chairman Jack Ma called fake items ‘cancer’ for the e-commerce platform and promised to clean the image of the business.

Alibaba has been trying with the anti-counterfeit global organization in the past three years through a program, which has banned 5000 merchants from its market, removed 160,000 item listings and led to a 100% take-down rate when companies stand behind their claims.

Yet, American and Chinese regulatory bodies continue to keep a check on its efforts. In December 2015, the U.S. Office of Trade Representative issued a warning that Alibaba needed to fight with the sales of pirated materials and fake goods if it wanted to keep itself out of the government’s annual “Notorious Markets” list.

The 250 members of IACC include prominent electronics, apparel and luxury goods brands, such as Rolex, Apple and Nike. The group is interested in including ecommerce platforms to collaborate with them in a manner as it did with credit card companies many years ago to battle counterfeits by cutting down payments made to their sellers and makers, according to IACC president Bob Barchiesi.

To bolster the efforts of the company, Alibaba recruited a former counterfeits and cybercrime investigator from Apple and US Justice Department prosecutor Matthew Bassiur, to head its global push to battle with fakes in Dec 2015.

Part of Bassiur’s role is to educate the world about Alibaba’s efforts, including banning and identifying sellers and exploring the sources of fakes so law enforcers can be informed, said Bassisur, the vice president of the company who heads its efforts for intellectual property protection.

The official membership of IACC will let the company access an international network of over 250 sellers and other IP experts, who are working to implement and develop collaborative solutions to piracy and online counterfeiting.

The web retailer will be also able to not only learn from constructive discussions but also contribute to them via Member Engagement Groups of IACC on best IP practices and rising counterfeiting trends with the rest of committed members of the industry.

While working with sellers and makers, Alibaba intends to solve the problem at its roots, improve its technological abilities, keep refining its policies and develop its in-house capability on IP enforcement.