This board has become the grey market capital for S2000 knock-offs. Capitalism in itself is fine when tempered with ethics but there is no excuse for pure greed which is the real driving force behind most knock-offs.

No sooner does an innovative and enterprising person develop and spend R&D dollars on a new idea than someone else jumps in, takes their idea and brings it to the market before them.

Examples: CAI knockoffs / Lighted windscreens / People contacting sponsor's suppliers behind their back in order to compete against them, etc etc.

I'm not going to mention names. I'm just waiting for someone to hold a special on cut-throat razors or perhaps they should hand them out to members when they join the board.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Muz
[B]This board has become the grey market capital for S2000 knock-offs. Capitalism in itself is fine when tempered with ethics but there is no excuse for pure greed which is the real driving force behind most knock-offs.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by POWER S2000
[B]First of all, nice topic Stuie.

Rworne has basically hit all the big points and he is very correct.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Muz
[B]This board has become the grey market capital for S2000 knock-offs. Capitalism in itself is fine when tempered with ethics but there is no excuse for pure greed which is the real driving force behind most knock-offs.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Muz
[B]This board has become the grey market capital for S2000 knock-offs. Capitalism in itself is fine when tempered with ethics but there is no excuse for pure greed which is the real driving force behind most knock-offs.

 

Incorrect. Plagiarism occurs when the "offender" is passing the item (or idea) off as an original concept (or thought). Simply copying something in of itself would not be plagiarism unless those doing the copying are implying their product is original. This is why you see "Amuse-style" in ad-copy.

FWIW, greedy enterprising American companies aren't always on the offensive when it comes to this. Anyone ever hear of golf club components? 90% of the black market for copy cat clubs are produced overseas and shipped to the USA. Callaway has put lawyers' children thru Ivy League schools fighting patent infringement, etc.
For every one original Big Bertha, there are 100 copy cats. China is notorious for this.

Bottom line for me? Buy what you want. I didn't want to spend $1700 on a set of 16x7, 45 offset 11.8-lb Spoon SW388's
so for $450, I bought a set of Rota 16x7, 45 offset 13.5-lb Slipstreams instead. Fantastic bargain and a great wheel for the price.
If you're upset because someone else has a knock-off, then perhaps you're more interested in status and how YOU'RE perceived. It's an ego thing. The human condition at work. The fact that the guy down the road has a Volk knockoff...how does that affect how YOUR wheels look, perform or affect their quality?
Vanity commands a price does it not? How many of us would spend
$3000 on a set of wheels and not be mildly upset to find the neighbor's S2000 sporting an indentically-finished quad of knock-offs that from 10-feet away could fool 75% of the enthusiast community.