Hi, Blogfriends,

I will not be posting my normal feature-length blog this week, as I have been informed by the savvy folks who support this blog that the HP BLOGS WILL BE MIGRATING to a new platform over the next week. As of tomorrow, May 23, I won't be able to post to my blog and comments aren't going to be postable until this migration takes place. The new site is expected to go live June 1, so please zing me those comments when the new month beckons!

What is the motivation to join together against counterfeiting? It is similar to the web itself...the power of interconnectedness. Travel back in time to those halcyon days of the early 90's, when only a few weirdos used the web. Slow modems, green screens, and only a few of your similarly geeky friends with which to interchange your uninspired missives. Then, the Internet exploded, right around 1994, and suddenly everyone with access to a browser was way smarter than the braniacs of the year before. Transforming. The Internet made it so much easier to be smarter.

So too with leagues of folks united against counterfeiting. Working together, there is more data, more visibility into the world's supply chains, and potentially more trust. Until that happens, however, the odds are tipped in favor of the counterfeiters. Remember, the game has changed. Your competition is now your ally, if you think it through. A Blue Ocean has opened up for the legitimate brand owners who have survived. And this Blue Ocean will have other even more substantial benefits for the enlightened brand owners who embrace the transforming power of transparency.

Next blog I'll show you how I'd go after the ones unsophisticated enough to deny, ignore or underestimate the impact of counterfeiting. There is no security through obscurity, so don't accuse me of putting weapons in the hands of counterfeiters--they're already armed.

Until June, then, cheers,
-Steve

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Posted 05-22-2008 12:43 AM by StevenSimske