"I'm surprised they didn't bring in the model shown in the photo for closer examination:-)" Truth today is stranger than implausible premises for dirty stories were 15 years ago, so I wouldn't completely rule it out.
This is wonderful! Department of Homeland Security looks so absurd overreacting like this; this will cause much laughter. What we need now is a poster that shows a buff DHS male agent dude, dressed and badged from the waist up, but from the waist down is wearing these panties. The slogan can be, "Be good or the DHS will steal your panties!"
Jan, with an active imagination (On a more serious note, blarman is totally right.)
Comrade citizens rejoice! Let's give Homeland Security a standing ovation! Those are panties ISIS will never ever get their hands on. And that's one less mask a domestic lone wolf terrorist can pull over his bearded head. Safety first, y'all. Yeah. Wow.
Were they just getting their jollies. I can't believe Homeland Security was needed to confiscate a couple of dozen pairs of panties. What a waste of resources.
Everyone on a power trip is just getting their jollies. And this was the ICE division (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). It seems to me they prioritize questionable customs enforcement, while providing minimal immigration enforcement... If illegal immigrants were selling or wearing these panties, nothing would be done about it...
It does appear to be an infringement but I have to wonder if something else is going on here. Maybe the print shop owner is on a "watch list" for some reason.
I remember reading a while back that a lot of people went to Mexico for pharmaceuticals because they are a lot cheaper. The drug companies warned that they could be knock offs and dangerous. Cases like that have to be taken seriously. I wonder if free trade agreements even address the IP issue. I have read that they are thousands of pages of useless gibberish. Why not just say we will trade with countries that take it seriously and if they don't(China) we will stop.
I want to hear from khalling and dhalling on this. Is it not the proper role of government to protect intellectual property as per Article I Section 8.
It seems to me that this complaint here from Infowars is non-objective.
According to the Hallings, our prosperity as Americans has come directly from the strong intellectual property laws of our nation. This enforcement would seem to be an example of that. (But I could be wrong...)
The real question is WHY is Homeland Security involved in this rather than the FBI or local LEOs.
I don't think a printing shop run by two women should be raided unless they are terrorists or some other security threat. Something I see as unlikely here.
Homeland Security should be helping protect borders, stop terrorists, something that is actually in their mission statement.
re: "I don't think a printing shop run by two women should be raided unless they are terrorists or some other security threat. Something I see as unlikely here. Homeland Security should be helping protect borders, stop terrorists, something that is actually in their mission statement."...
I'm sorry that it took so long down this thread for anyone to raise the most appropriate question!!!
"Why Them?!" Logical rationale, if any, must require some reality-stretching, to be sure!
I've heard of this in cases of movie piracy. In that instance, someone is caught in the act and it's a felony. But trademark infringement is not handled this way usually. Think about it like this: what about the guy selling knock-off Coach bags on the corner? If the goods are not confiscated when the shipping containers come in, when are they? We have clients whose designed products manufactured in China, suddenly show up on websites 30% cheaper. exact same thing. It kills their business.But in the US, with US businesses, it's relatively easy to send a cease and desist letter, then follow it with court action. This seems like police state-y, over-the-top. and a little crony. someone working for the Chiefs saw them and called in a govt favor? like I said, movie theaters in large cities call some number when they suspect piracy. feds come right over
The amount of merchandise was so small I wondered why they even bothered. It wasn't like a container from China showed up. It does look like they used the Royals logo without permission but I think your point about sending a letter would have been sufficient.
yes, Royals. :) yes, complete over-kill. we are seeing that more and more, and you will see rules changing up with more frequency. It's easier to grab power when you have more guilty
Because the offending items are girls underwear I think most people will just giggle when they see this story. I would like to know how they found out and why they felt it required so much force. I actually think one agent could have handled this. I doubt they would have put up a fight.
"so much force"? It says in the text, in the words of one of the people in the shop that 2 guys came in, they asked what size they needed, then they showed a badge... doesn't exactly sound like a swat raid. Sounds like 2 (most law enforcement travel in pairs for safety) guys walked in in such a low key manner that they initially thought they were customers. I'm not sure this 'raid' could have been more mellow unless they'd just sent em a letter...
These raids happen. Usually the reasoning is it 's hard to track down vendors cuz they move around. It 's a well established area of trademark law. The idea is sponsorship. The Royal 's claiming people using a facsimile of their logo to profit but that it could also hurt the brand. She was in the wrong but she had an established business location and a letter from the Royals would have been a good first step.
The raid was no on the store selling the goods. In the interview the guy says he made a delivery of the items and they asked him for paperwork, which he refused, so they actually seized the screens used to make the bootleg stuff from a different location. I agree, they were in the wrong. Using the KC property without license is theft. This print shop was run by looters.
Question: Isn't this an FBI role - not Homeland Security? I can see how from the logo and colors it is "close enough" (and being sold in Kansas City kind of seals the deal) that it would qualify as trademark infringement. But I question the agency involved in enforcement.
Custom Service handles it if it's imported. It seems the LEO's would be for a small time shop like this, with a cease and desist order. I'm not sure of that though. Why the FBI unless it's a huge amount?
What number of agents was it? I'm seeing in the text that one of the people says 2 guys came in, and they thought they were customers, and asked what size they needed, then they were shown badges, and the visit explained.... um.... yeah... 2 guys came in... no door kicking, no swat team....
OK, different there than what was quoted in the text... but besides the third hand report by the woman at the news desk, no one ever said a gun was drawn. Also, this was not his first encounter with these agents, by his own report. He was asked to produce paperwork by the agent when he made delivery to that storefront, which he refused, so they went to the manufacturing center.
Ya know, by objectivist thinking, this man was a looter, stealing the IP of others and selling it as his own. He's a thief, he was caught red handed by the very people we pay to do exactly this. He was in cuffs 10 minutes, and the whole situation wrapped up in an hour+/-. As for saying it was too many agents, 10 guys filed in to an unknown situation in a warehouse.... I don't think that's unreasonable. Also, even by his own demonstration of the hand motion, the agent had his hand on a holstered weapon, which is not a swat style raid, else it would have been brandished long weapons carried 'at the hunt'.
Truth today is stranger than implausible premises for dirty stories were 15 years ago, so I wouldn't completely rule it out.
Jan, with an active imagination
(On a more serious note, blarman is totally right.)
Creeps! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RktVYiYja...
Those are panties ISIS will never ever get their hands on.
And that's one less mask a domestic lone wolf terrorist can pull over his bearded head.
Safety first, y'all. Yeah. Wow.
Why would you want to do something like that? [/sarcasm]
have to do with homeland security??? -- j
p.s. https://www.google.com/search?q=kc+royal...
https://www.google.com/search?q=gary+lar...
It seems to me that this complaint here from Infowars is non-objective.
According to the Hallings, our prosperity as Americans has come directly from the strong intellectual property laws of our nation. This enforcement would seem to be an example of that. (But I could be wrong...)
I don't think a printing shop run by two women should be raided unless they are terrorists or some other security threat. Something I see as unlikely here.
Homeland Security should be helping protect borders, stop terrorists, something that is actually in their mission statement.
Not conducting panty raids like drunken frat boys
Homeland Security should be helping protect borders, stop terrorists, something that is actually in their mission statement."...
I'm sorry that it took so long down this thread for anyone to raise the most appropriate question!!!
"Why Them?!" Logical rationale, if any, must require some reality-stretching, to be sure!
I agree, they were in the wrong. Using the KC property without license is theft. This print shop was run by looters.
Question: Isn't this an FBI role - not Homeland Security? I can see how from the logo and colors it is "close enough" (and being sold in Kansas City kind of seals the deal) that it would qualify as trademark infringement. But I question the agency involved in enforcement.
Ya know, by objectivist thinking, this man was a looter, stealing the IP of others and selling it as his own. He's a thief, he was caught red handed by the very people we pay to do exactly this. He was in cuffs 10 minutes, and the whole situation wrapped up in an hour+/-.
As for saying it was too many agents, 10 guys filed in to an unknown situation in a warehouse.... I don't think that's unreasonable. Also, even by his own demonstration of the hand motion, the agent had his hand on a holstered weapon, which is not a swat style raid, else it would have been brandished long weapons carried 'at the hunt'.