421 ads for counterfeit strings removed
D'Addario employees take a break on floor of the guitar-string maker's plant to listen as U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer decried the counterfeit guitar string from China that threatens the Farmingdale company's prospects. The next day, one of the major counterfeiting suspects took down online ads. (Dec. 6, 2010) Credit: Kevin P Coughlin
The online retailer Alibaba.com, a thorn in the side of guitar string maker D'Addario & Co., has voluntarily taken down 421 ads that the Farmingdale-based company said were for counterfeits of its products.
Alibaba took down the ads Tuesday, a day after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), visited the D'Addario plant and later asked federal officials to investigate the matter. Officials of Alibaba, based in China, could not be reached for comment Friday.
In an announcement, Schumer thanked the retailer for its "immediate action to halt the sale of these counterfeit music strings." But James D'Addario, the company's president and chief executive, said that while he appreciated Schumer's help, the counterfeiting problem is widespread.
"This is the wack-a-mole process," D'Addario said of last week's intervention. He said the company had tried in the past to get Alibaba to take down the ads but was unsuccessful.
"There are counterfeits on other sites," D'Addario said, adding that in the last three years his company has lost $3 million to $6 million in revenue to counterfeiters.
The Chinese government has said it recently launched a campaign to stop counterfeiting, but D'Addario said the officials' words appear empty: "They're misrepresenting what they're saying."
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