Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds • Hacker News Board

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#271

Post by perryizgr8 » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 3:52 AM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #262

perryizgr8 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My comment was well thought out. If you cannot find a better (in every way) earbud at the price that airpods sell for, I think you are misinformed.

Isn’t the burden of proof on the person making the claim? In this case, you’re claiming they’re worse , so the burden is on you to find a better one. Any would work. But to put the burden on the person claiming, in their own opinion, that they’re simply “the best on the market” doesn’t make sense.

They never asked me. Instead they resorted to name calling, personal attack. So understand why I don't feel inclined to continue this conversation and put more effort into it.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#272

Post by perryizgr8 » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 3:53 AM UTC

Razengan wrote: post #259

perryizgr8 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Apple removed the headphone jack. 2. Apple stopped giving out dongles in the box. 3. Apple limited others' ability to compete by including proprietary chips in iphone and airpods. 4. Apple marketed airpods as a status symbol. 5. People bought into the hype. Objectively, airpods are the worst wireless earbuds in the market on every single metric, but still command a premium price.

1. AirPods are convenient to carry. 2. AirPods are convenient to charge. 3. AirPods are convenient to wear. 4. AirPods are convenient to share between people. 5. AirPods are convenient to switch between devices. 6. AirPods sound good. 7. AirPods Pro have good noise cancellation, transparency and spatial audio. 8. People buy them because they want them and know others who are happy with them. Objectively, this is the…

9. People buy it because it has an apple logo on the box.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#273

Post by ashtonkem » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 4:19 AM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #267

ashtonkem wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have absolutely no idea why “trust” and “intentions” are relevant here. Why should CBP siege all the electronics if just the adapters are not legal? Sure, if the main electronics also have counterfeit UL marks then they also should be seized, but if the main electronics aren’t counterfeit why should invalid adapters be the grounds for seizing everything else?

So how do you know everything is legit and not just the adaptors? You are "trusting" the poster here and assuming there "intentions" are good.

I don’t know if the rest of the electronics were legit or not, but I sure hope CBP would be able to tell the difference rather than just asking. Seems like it’s literally their job to determine this kind of thing. If they can’t determine whether or not the rest of the shipment was valid and had to try and determine OP’s intentions, then I genuinely doubt if they should even be seizing anything at all.

As far as me “trusting” OP on the story, well yeah, it’s a random HN comment. Literally nothing is at stake here. If you’re going to start assuming that OP is lying for HN cred then be my guest, but it seems needlessly paranoid to me.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#274

Post by Razengan » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 4:22 AM UTC

perryizgr8 wrote: post #272

Razengan wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. AirPods are convenient to carry. 2. AirPods are convenient to charge. 3. AirPods are convenient to wear. 4. AirPods are convenient to share between people. 5. AirPods are convenient to switch between devices. 6. AirPods sound good. 7. AirPods Pro have good noise cancellation, transparency and spatial audio. 8. People buy them because they want them and know others who are happy with them. Objectively, this is the…

9. People buy it because it has an apple logo on the box.

10. You hate it because it has an Apple logo on the box.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#275

Post by tyingq » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 5:00 AM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #265

tyingq wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I'm saying they saw the main item with their own eyes.

So...CBP are now magically EEs and should now know everything about electronics?

They could see it had no brand labels, or labels of any kind. No magic required.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#276

Post by tyingq » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 5:02 AM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #270

tyingq wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could have me do it. Also, they do it eventually to auction off the main parts.

Do you have a link to the auctioned off parts? I'm curious now

It was several years ago. I do still have some of the CBP letters, but I don't think the auctions are archived.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#277

Post by altacc » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 8:07 AM UTC

mikl wrote: post #230

altacc wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how a lot of "design" works, be it product design, fashion or software. A standard is set by a market leader and consumers want as close to that as they can get. So other companies offer similar versions, often sharing some of the same supply chain. It has happened throughout history and will continue as long as consumers have choice.

Sure, but there’s different degrees, from a little inspiration to an outright copy. In this case, I think it’s far towards the copy-end. If you presented a case of OnePlus Buds to the average consumer as Apple AirPods, would they know the difference? I doubt it.

There are degrees but the average consumer is blind to many differences which are only obvious if you're looking for them, or an expert. Debadge one of the many homogeneously designed cars and an average consumer wouldn't have any idea who manufactured it. Line up a dozen laptops from different brands and to many people they look the same.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#278

Post by tinus_hn » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 10:45 AM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #269

tyingq wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a UL mark. Underwriters Laboratories. They are a company that tests products for electrical safety. The manufacturer of the AC adapter didn't pay for testing, but put the mark on the adapter. The adapters weren't the main thing I was importing, so I hadn't paid any attention to it in the order process. The technical reason for the seizure was trademark violation.

>The technical reason for the seizure was trademark violation. Do you know what a trademark is? This wasn't a trademark violation, it was a fake certification. The reason for the seizure is I don't want electronics in my house that could burn it down. UL cetifiies that. That's NOT a trademark. That's a certification. You really don't seem to understand that you were caught trying to import bogus goods. It's also conc…

The certification is enforced by having a trademark on the logo, that’s the easiest way to put conditions on the use of a mark.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#279

Post by tyingq » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 12:18 PM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #266

true_religion wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's true... then they should investigate, not make an assumption and simply capture all of someones valuable property. OP is inside of the US, and probably lives here as well. He's not a flight risk, and its totally reasonable to ask them to go through slow bureaucratic means to make sure they get it right. CBP acts like they are the first line in a war when really they ought to be helping people come into comp…

I think there is more to the story here than being told really. I bet they did investigate, and the poster didn't have documentation. Why are we assuming the commenter is being totally.honest?

Why would I want adapters with fake UL marks? The adapter is a very small amount of the cost.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#280

Post by zb1plus » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

ardy42 wrote: post #220

tyingq wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"what should they have done?" Seized the adapters. That would have been enough for me to be more careful about adapters in the future. Seizing the whole shipment hurts me, but not the supplier. See my other example here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24469959 There's any number of things you might not expect, and the receiver is the only one hurt when they are a smaller player.

> Seized the adapters. That would have been enough for me to be more careful about adapters in the future. Seizing the whole shipment hurts me, but not the supplier. Where the adapters packaged separately to make that possible? Or are you asking some customs inspector to unbox all your items, remove the adapters, and repack it all?

How about the government doesn't steal people's stuff!? Unless the item contained improperly secured radioactive material or something like that, I see zero reason why the state should have the right to seize someone's property for attempting to ship it into the country from another locale. If society is concerned about vendors here in the USA selling dodgy stuff, there are far superior solutions like regulating retailers and hold them accountable that do not require invasive boarder searches. Customs inspection are 99% a complete scam designed to enable the government to steal money and property from people.