Counterfeiting

The unauthorized marketing of products, often at heavily discounted prices. This online counterpart to a long-standing, real world scourge is, in many ways, harder to identify--at least from a consumer's point of view. Fraudsters can easily lift legitimate brand elements (logos, themes, etc.) in order to create look-a-like websites that capture credit card information and process bogus orders. While a counterfeited company may not be responsible for the confusion caused by fraudsters, it may reap the sour fruits of consumer dissatisfaction nonetheless. Once duped, customers may be wary of making Internet purchases in the future.

Framing

The re-use of website content without source citation or authorization. Framing is often used by a competitor to leverage the goodwill or "buzz" associated with a company's products / services, and can perpetuate false partnership claims or brand abuse. In the case of Washington News Co. v. Total News, No. 97 Civ. 1190 (PKL) (S.D.N.Y. complaint filed Feb. 20, 1997), Total News framed the content of several Washington News Co. websites. In turn, the complainant alleged that Total News was promoting unfair competition, as well as copyright infringement. To settle the case, Total News agreed to post links to Washington News Co. websites in order to disclose fully the source of its content.