Hong Kong Customs has busted a total of 99 cases of selling infringing goods on the Internet with the arrest of 112 people in the first half of this year, said an official with the Customs on Tuesday.
Louise Ho, head of the Customs' Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau, said there was a trend of migration from auction sites to social networking platforms through which the crime was committed. Among the 99 cases effected this year, there were 64 such cases, said Ho, adding this was three times the number recorded in the same period in 2014.
Among the people arrested, 45 were aged below 21, which was double the number recorded in the same period last year. More students, in particular secondary school students, were found to be involved in operating illicit business. The youngest person arrested so far was a 12-year-old student.
Ho noted that many young people involved in these cases had the misguided belief that as long as they declared the goods as counterfeit goods to buyers prior to sale transactions, there was no intent to defraud and hence they would not have any criminal liability. Some also had the misconception that it would be difficult to track their crime online.
Ho said that Hong Kong Customs will sustain the vigorous enforcement efforts against online sale of infringing goods during the summer holidays. She appealed to young people not to fall prey to such illegal activities to avoid any serious consequences.
"Hong Kong Customs will continue to spare no effort to combat online sale of infringing goods," she said.
