Blacklisting: A New Effective Digital Tool Against Counterfeit Sales Online (Legal Opinion)

Abstract

In a technology-driven world, the models of conducting business by the rightsholders and online intermediaries (“Good Actors”) are changing frequently to adapt new demands of consumers and to improve the speed and quality of services, so too are the behaviour patterns of the counterfeiters and pirates (“Bad Actors”), who adjust instantly to cutting-edge technologies for committing their illegal actions. This has encouraged Good Actors to look for new more effective means for tracking and tracing Bad Actors and curbing online infringements. This Legal Opinion focuses on introduction of a “blacklisting” digital tool as a newly developed solution for fighting against increasing sales of counterfeits in the digital environment, as well as for preventing Bad Actors from other violations of intellectual property rights, such as copyright infringement and intentional misappropriation of intellectual property. This solution is based on a comprehensive study and analysis of the global picture and statistics of counterfeit sales, with a primary focus on the online market, along with the current approaches, methods and instruments used to restrain the growing numbers of pirated and counterfeit goods. Moreover, the paper proposes a “blacklisting” classification, which may serve as “a traffic light system” to tackle the online infringements, and describes its step-by-step implementation process.