Call it the dark side of international commerce: fakes, frauds and thought thieves. Time to take action. On a global scale, companies are losing an estimated $657bn each year due to product counterfeiting and intellectual property (IP) infringement. And, with the explosion of trade over the past few years, the problem is becoming even more widespread. Previously, companies had only to worry about their finished goods being illegally duplicated and sold on the black market. Now, raw materials and key components are becoming subject to counterfeiting as well. That raises serious questions of public safety, when it comes to products such as food, jet engine parts and pharmaceuticals. Professor Michael R. Czinkota of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University joins us on this episode to discuss why the issue of counterfeiting and IP theft has become more serious than ever before. And he explains why he's optimistic that steps might finally be taken to curb these illegal practices.

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