If countries of consumers of these products take drastic measure, it will better the lots in the long run. The proposed method Kenya government plans to deal with the situation should be emulated by Nigeria government. In that way, fake products such as handsets will drastically reduce. Consumers will enjoy value for their money.
You can imagine the number of fake handsets in Nigeria and all over Africa who do nothing to produce than consume!
In Kenyan alone "about 4.4 million mobile phone subscribers may lose their lines following a directive by the Communications Commission of Kenya to the operators to block handsets that are "unknown" on their networks in a bid to fight the sale of counterfeits.
Such handsets do not have an International Mobile Equipment Identity ( IMEI), the unique number used to identify original GSM devices". To know your handset IMEI number simply dial *#06#.
The health danger in useing counterfeit handset must be avoided as Africa is already plagued with low or no standard medical facilities. Studies at the health implication "have shown that counterfeit phones emit radio frequency radiation higher than what is internationally stipulated as safe for human exposure and therefore harmful to those who use them.
" Counterfeiting of mobile phones and their accessories has risen over the last seven years. It is estimated that one in every five mobile phones sold in the global market is a counterfeit.
Though the major single reason
Consumers go for the fake phones is that they are much cheaper than the genuine brands. This has resulted in economy loses to government in tax revue and low sales for gnuine handsets manufacturers.
Government should step up punishment for
Infringement of intellectual property rights with long term imprisonment or deterring fines.
The above was written by this blogger with part adapted from ....
http://allafrica.com
