Chapter 10 Five steps Taobao can take to curb fakes

The second question is: Does the platform have the ability to curb merchants selling counterfeit goods? Have the ability to contain it?Jack Ma once said: "Whether it is Taobao or users, we are the biggest harmer of fake products. Consumers buy fake products, and the most complaints are from Taobao. But Taobao is not a law enforcement agency after all. We have no right to find fake suppliers. To enforce the law or ban it, you can only close the store. But the closed store will change its name and re-register, so I hope that all online merchants can consciously create a pure environment.”

This is his speech in December 2009. There are three meanings in this passage.The first level is that Ma Yun said that Taobao "is not a law enforcement agency", so he has no right to ban counterfeit shops.The second layer is, even if the store is closed, it registers again with a different vest, there is still no way; the third layer is, what should we do in the face of this situation?Ma Yun said that morality should be used to control the Internet, and he hopes that comrades will raise their moral awareness—distribute a moral manual to every seller, so that everyone will consciously not sell fake products, and the world will be peaceful.

So these three ideas of Jack Ma, do they make sense? Actually it doesn't make sense.In fact, there are at least five ways that Taobao can help curb the prevalence of counterfeit goods.Therefore, Taobao or Alibaba actually have the ability to curb the prevalence of fake goods. So, what are the five methods? The first method: big data.All consumption behaviors of consumers on Taobao are recorded on Taobao.Ma Yun once said that the greatest value of Alibaba is big data, and Alibaba has the opportunity to become the greatest company in the sense of big data.Since it is possible to do business through big data, why can't it be possible to fight counterfeiting through big data?If the Alibaba Group cannot use big data to crack down on counterfeiting, it is certainly not the greatest company, at most it is the second greatest company.Therefore, big data can provide an important technical support for Taobao to combat fraud and counterfeit goods.This kind of support is not something that ground-level physical shopping malls and markets can have. This is also a technical advantage of Internet companies.

The second method: real-name authentication.Real-name authentication has actually been used for a long time on Sina Weibo and WeChat.A person who speaks on the Internet and says something that endangers social stability can be arrested by the police within 24 hours, let alone a person who sells counterfeit goods.Is there a difference in real-name authentication between people who sell fake goods and those who make terrorist remarks?There is no difference between the two.Therefore, it is entirely possible to catch these fake sellers through real-name authentication. The third method: implement the blacklist system.If someone sells fake goods on Taobao and is discovered through big data and real-name authentication, he will be included in Alibaba's blacklist, his identity will be announced and exposed, and he will not be allowed to Open a store on Taobao.The blacklist system has a very powerful deterrent capability.

The fourth method: set up a lawyer assistance fund and file a lawsuit.Chinese people are most afraid of going to court, but in a society ruled by law, the best way to curb evil forces is to go to court.Alibaba has set up a consumer protection fund with an amount of more than one billion yuan, but in fact, consumers cannot get much of the money from the consumer protection fund. Usually this is just a concept.So, can Alibaba set up a lawyer assistance fund?For example, if a consumer has spent 10,000 yuan in a lawsuit against counterfeit goods, Alibaba will also contribute 10,000 yuan to help him, and use 20,000 yuan to fight the lawsuit together.If the consumer puts out 50,000 yuan, then Alibaba will also give him 50,000 yuan, and use 100,000 yuan to fight the lawsuit.Another advantage of this is that it can support a large number of conscientious lawyers in China.When there are more lawsuits, the cost of counterfeiting will increase significantly for those who counterfeit.

The fifth method: promote the legalization of online shopping.The proportion of China's e-commerce sales in the total retail sales of consumer goods in the whole society is currently only about 3%.But in the future, this ratio will become higher and higher, even reaching 30% is very likely.When the e-commerce platform gradually becomes the most important consumption platform in the whole society, it is necessary to promote legalization at the legal level.This is the responsibility that every entrepreneur in China should shoulder.So, who should bear the most responsibility for promoting the legalization of the e-commerce field in legislation?The first thing to ask is who is the most capable in the field of e-commerce?Who has the most money?Needless to say, it is Alibaba.

The three statements Ma Yun mentioned - because we are not a law enforcement agency, there is no way to enforce the law or ban it; and even if it is closed, it can change its vest and open a store; so I hope that the majority of store owners can raise their moral awareness to maintain this. A pure legal environment - in fact, it is not reliable.This shows that enterprises have not yet fully awakened in this regard.This is also an important reason why Taobao is still criticized. In the second half of 2014, Alibaba will be listed in the United States.Many people in the legal field and practitioners in the capital market are discussing a question, that is, if Taobao remains the world’s largest trading platform for counterfeit goods in the future, and Alibaba Group is listed in the United States, will there be such a day that North American companies 100,000 consumers collectively complained about Taobao?At that time, it may be the end of Taobao.

Everyone has a share in the diseases of this society, but big companies should bear big responsibilities.