According to the report, product piracy has significantly evolved within the past decades, becoming a worldwide form of organized crime and one of the most important sources of income for many terror networks. Many terrorist groups produce and sell counterfeit products in order to buy weapons or finance military operations with the profits.
The terrorists behind the attacks in Paris in January of last year, for instance, financed their operation by counterfeiting well-known sports shoes. According to the report, Al Qaida also makes use of product piracy, and sells e.g. illegal replications of credit cards as well as counterfeit designer clothing. In Syria, many terrorists were able to arm themselves by selling fake amphetamine.
The high profit margins and relatively low risks create a particular incentive for the terror networks. Unifab sees the legal situation as one of the main causes. The report criticizes the fact that product piracy is often seen as a trivial offense, as well as the absence of a public awareness for the extensive consequences of product piracy. Also, the penalties imposed hardly function as a deterrent and are too rarely enforced.
In order to take on product piracy and thereby limit terrorist activities, the Unifab report suggests ten concrete measures. These include the harmonization of the prevailing legal norms within the EU, closer cooperation between various countries and institutions, and the creation of a stronger public awareness for the negative consequences of product piracy.
