Hasbro getting tough on prototypes on fan sites - Hasbro response page 7

[Flitter]

Bad form for sure but I'm not surprised Hasbro is trying to do something about it.

It's kind of odd, of the hobbies I've been in this community seems to be most accepting of re-cast fakes and grey market product. Yeah I like seeing pony news and new products as much as anyone else I won't be sad if we start seeing less leaked onto Taobao. I'd rather see the product line thrive in my country and not be taunted by pics of ponies that may not see releases for several months if ever.

[Eskara1862]

i'd probably fall for it too. "give us your address so we can give you free ponies!!111one!!!1"
i'd be like "OK! here's my work address too!!!! send lots!"

I guess the lesson here is, if Hasbro offers you free items out of the blue, say no!

[Vintergatan]

So yeah, the way I see it, it's their problem these things are happening and they have absolutely no right to behave this way towards their customers, this is pretty outrageous.

I'm sorry but if you buy from taobao you know you are buying stolen goods (at least the prototypes and such). I'm not saying that Hasbro handles this well (it's quite overkill) but to act as if the buyer is fully innocent seems silly to me.
That's like buying a stolen watch and saying "well that person should not have been so stupid to get robbed, so it's ok!".

First of all not all people know this. Honestly, neither do you as the origin of those items is not known for a fact.
Secondly, we are here talking about a few toys out of a gazillion that are produced every day by a multi-million company using cheap labour and breaking all kinds of human laws in the process (just like any company with their production in China).

So yeah, the fact that they can't (or simply don't) monitor what is going on in their factories is their fault and their problem and I have no issues with a few underpaid, exploited workers taking advantage of that.


There's an easy enough solution to deal with these thefts and fakie productions etc - it is to move their factories into countries with better regulations etc. However, the minute they decided they´d rather mass produce their stuff and use cheap labour, they should have expected this.

Comparing this situation to someone robbing a single person of their watch is like comparing apples and oranges.

[LuvlyMelody]

i'd probably fall for it too. "give us your address so we can give you free ponies!!111one!!!1"
i'd be like "OK! here's my work address too!!!! send lots!"

I guess the lesson here is, if Hasbro offers you free items out of the blue, say no!

Lets make it more fun! *replaces words from sentence* (I'm sorry Eskara1862 but the wording of the sentence, scenario and timing was too perfect to pass.)

"I guess the lesson here is, if a stranger offers you free candy out of the blue, say no!"

Come on! I thought we all learned this when we were children! regardless of age and whether its candy or ponies! lol

[Rhini]

i'd probably fall for it too. "give us your address so we can give you free ponies!!111one!!!1"
i'd be like "OK! here's my work address too!!!! send lots!"

I guess the lesson here is, if Hasbro offers you free items out of the blue, say no!

Lets make it more fun! *replaces words from sentence* (I'm sorry Eskara1862 but the wording of the sentence, scenario and timing was too perfect to pass.)

"I guess the lesson here is, if a stranger offers you free candy out of the blue, say no!"

Come on! I thought we all learned this when we were children! regardless of age and whether its candy or ponies! lol

But but...Hasbro is such a NICE looking stranger

[Em_L._Pea_Customs]

...Secondly, we are here talking about a few toys out of a gazillion that are produced every day by a multi-million company using cheap labour and breaking all kinds of human laws in the process (just like any company with their production in China)...There's an easy enough solution to deal with these thefts and fakie productions etc - it is to move their factories into countries with better regulations etc. However, the minute they decided they´d rather mass produce their stuff and use cheap labour, they should have expected this...

This is exactly what I was thinking!

[Malicieuse]

So yeah, the way I see it, it's their problem these things are happening and they have absolutely no right to behave this way towards their customers, this is pretty outrageous.

I'm sorry but if you buy from taobao you know you are buying stolen goods (at least the prototypes and such). I'm not saying that Hasbro handles this well (it's quite overkill) but to act as if the buyer is fully innocent seems silly to me.
That's like buying a stolen watch and saying "well that person should not have been so stupid to get robbed, so it's ok!".

First of all not all people know this. Honestly, neither do you as the origin of those items is not known for a fact.
Secondly, we are here talking about a few toys out of a gazillion that are produced every day by a multi-million company using cheap labour and breaking all kinds of human laws in the process (just like any company with their production in China).

So yeah, the fact that they can't (or simply don't) monitor what is going on in their factories is their fault and their problem and I have no issues with a few underpaid, exploited workers taking advantage of that.


There's an easy enough solution to deal with these thefts and fakie productions etc - it is to move their factories into countries with better regulations etc. However, the minute they decided they´d rather mass produce their stuff and use cheap labour, they should have expected this.

Comparing this situation to someone robbing a single person of their watch is like comparing apples and oranges.

I don't think anyone believes a product that hasn't even been released yet or is not supposed to be released is not stolen. Either way, they are not supposed to be sold. Also, all i'm hearing is "Hasbro is a big company so it's perfectly fine to steal from them". You wouldn't steal a pony from a store so why is stealing them from a factory perfectly fine?

Honestly, i don't know about the working conditions in the factories. Neither do i know if those taobao sellers are really some poor people who work in the factories. I just don't think that blaiming Hasbro for the fact people steal from them is ok.
And to me buying from taobao is not a big deal... but at least i'm aware that when i'm buying such a product that i'm not supporting Hasbro/ buying stolen goods and all that. I will not make up excuses as to why it is perfectly fine.
 
Also, moving their factories to other countries is not some magical solution to everything. At least i don't believe so. In fact, while sweatshops are horrible, firing all those Chinese workers doesn't sound that dandy either. I think we shouldn't simplify things. But i'm not going to get too off topic here.

[moonflower]

That was a good read, thank you for sharing!

Hasbro has no right to go after people like that imo, it was way out of order. They should be going after the source, not the customers and the way they obtained this guys address was devious.

[Vintergatan]

Also, all i'm hearing is "Hasbro is a big company so it's perfectly fine to steal from them". You wouldn't steal a pony from a store so why is stealing them from a factory perfectly fine?

......

Also, moving their factories to other countries is not some magical solution to everything. At least i don't believe so. In fact, while sweatshops are horrible, firing all those Chinese workers doesn't sound that dandy either. I think we shouldn't simplify things. But i'm not going to get too off topic here.

That is not at all what i´m saying.

What i´m trying to say is that once you decide to go and establish your factory in a country with poor regulations where you don't have the legal protection you would have in, say, USA, France, Denmark etc, and you do that just so you could have cheap work force produce your goods - you have sacrificed that legal protection  for the sake of money.

I will try to make a less over-the-head comparison. Say, you start working unofficially somewhere. While you will get better pay as you don't get tax deducted from it etc, once you get sick or hurt, you have nothing to bounce back on. It is simply a risk  and if it was your choice, it is your problem now.

I am also not simplifying anything. I am simply saying that when companies decide to establish their production in countries such as China (with which i personally have massive issues and know quite a bit about) they lose my sympathy in these matters not just because of human rights violations but because then they have to follow Chinese rules and regulations which are not the same as in the USA. So yes, having their factories in a better regulated country is " a magical solution" to this, but is also more expensive for them.

[moonflower]

Also, all i'm hearing is "Hasbro is a big company so it's perfectly fine to steal from them". You wouldn't steal a pony from a store so why is stealing them from a factory perfectly fine?

......

Also, moving their factories to other countries is not some magical solution to everything. At least i don't believe so. In fact, while sweatshops are horrible, firing all those Chinese workers doesn't sound that dandy either. I think we shouldn't simplify things. But i'm not going to get too off topic here.

That is not at all what i´m saying.

What i´m trying to say is that once you decide to go and establish your factory in a country with poor regulations where you don't have the legal protection you would have in, say, USA, France, Denmark etc, and you do that just so you could have cheap work force produce your goods - you have sacrificed that legal protection  for the sake of money.

I will try to make a less over-the-head comparison. Say, you start working unofficially somewhere. While you will get better pay as you don't get tax deducted from it etc, once you get sick or hurt, you have nothing to bounce back on. It is simply a risk  and if it was your choice, it is your problem now.

I am also not simplifying anything. I am simply saying that when companies decide to establish their production in countries such as China (with which i personally have massive issues and know quite a bit about) they lose my sympathy in these matters not just because of human rights violations but because then they have to follow Chinese rules and regulations which are not the same as in the USA. So yes, having their factories in a better regulated country is " a magical solution" to this, but is also more expensive for them.

Agreed. Hasbro should look into why/how these products are leaking out of their own factories. If anything they only have themselves to blame.

[ashes]

I think Hasbro has every right to try and track down how their products are being leaked out.  The fact is that people are being dishonest in leaking prototypes, and Hasbro is trying to rectify it.  Maybe their tactics aren't pleasing to others, but that's what it is. 

Besides, how often have we had threads in here about blatant fakie rip-offs in either design or packaging logos and wished that Hasbro would do something about it? 

And people can be prosecuted for buying stolen goods, even if they claim they didn't know they were stolen.

ETA:  And we here at the Arena have been respectful of Hasbro's future releases when they didn't want pictures of them floating around yet.

[ThriftyPony]

There are all kinds of Chinese ebay sellers selling presumably stolen factory goods... Seems to be pretty common place... but can you really blame them? If they made a livable wage they might not be so apt to steal. I mean, people steal from their jobs all the time, but there seems to be a very high amount of sellers selling new items super cheap on ebay -- like beads and jewelry supplies. That doesn't make it right, but maybe Hasbro should investigate why it's happening too?

I can see why Hasbro would be angry about it all though. There's probably a huge liability issue - those toys weren't approved and safety tested yet (presumably).

I never bothered with TaoBao because it was too expensive, but I'll admit I buy that cheap jewelry making stuff on ebay -- I mean $0.18 for beads? Including shipping?!

I hope they don't block us from sharing images of prototypes and upcoming releases though. :/

[cesprins]

Wow, that's really underhanded of them, offering free stuff so they can locate and sue them. I think we forget sometimes that corporations are not people. So I have little sympathy for a huge multimillion corp. trying to snipe down some single guy who bought their product direct from china? It's hasbro's problem if china is leaking their super secret toys, not his.


I wouldn't be surprised if eventually the corporations catch on and do try to make it illegal to buy directly for china though. Key word: try. They really can't stop chinese based shopping services since they don't have the power to tell other countries what to do. Packages can always be marked as a gift as well. So change would have to be made in china in the online stores and factory. Not here in the us.

[babystarz]

Also, all i'm hearing is "Hasbro is a big company so it's perfectly fine to steal from them". You wouldn't steal a pony from a store so why is stealing them from a factory perfectly fine?

......

Also, moving their factories to other countries is not some magical solution to everything. At least i don't believe so. In fact, while sweatshops are horrible, firing all those Chinese workers doesn't sound that dandy either. I think we shouldn't simplify things. But i'm not going to get too off topic here.

That is not at all what i´m saying.

What i´m trying to say is that once you decide to go and establish your factory in a country with poor regulations where you don't have the legal protection you would have in, say, USA, France, Denmark etc, and you do that just so you could have cheap work force produce your goods - you have sacrificed that legal protection  for the sake of money.

I will try to make a less over-the-head comparison. Say, you start working unofficially somewhere. While you will get better pay as you don't get tax deducted from it etc, once you get sick or hurt, you have nothing to bounce back on. It is simply a risk  and if it was your choice, it is your problem now.

I am also not simplifying anything. I am simply saying that when companies decide to establish their production in countries such as China (with which i personally have massive issues and know quite a bit about) they lose my sympathy in these matters not just because of human rights violations but because then they have to follow Chinese rules and regulations which are not the same as in the USA. So yes, having their factories in a better regulated country is " a magical solution" to this, but is also more expensive for them.

Yes I agree with this. Hasbro knew going in what the choice was. Legal standards and security, as well as how copyrights and theft itself are thought of, are not the same in China as they are in many western countries. When Hasbro decided to open up factories there, they  rolled the dice when it came to this stuff. Had they decided on a factory elsewhere, things would be very different. For one thing, countries that require people be paid a living wage tend not to see the same desperation in smuggling products off factory lines, as well as better relationships between companies and the people who work for them. Which in turn tends to result in better security, without actually spending more on security. Globalization and massive corporations along with the disgusting working conditions that are the norm for factory work in China make this a complicated issue. And frankly, I'm not about to judge anyone for smuggling out a pony in order to put food on their table. I'm not about to cry a river for Hasbro, it's making massive profits on the backs of these exploited workers - more than enough to make up for a few stolen ponies.

[banditpony]

Hasbro has every right to protect their intellectual property. And they DO this everyday. And normal consumers don't really know the legal issues or battles that companies make daily.

Some things I read in this thread contradict what I have been taught in a lecture by a company making a similar product. (I am just not confident in the topic to make comments on it, but what I am reading doesn't sound right).

Also, I think it's worth a note that the letter did not come from Hasbro, but a firm that Hasbro hired. What they did about the address is shady, and it is sad that Hasbro would hire someone who would do something like that.

Asking a public forum to take down unreleased/non official merchandise , and the way to purchase such things, is smart for the company.

...
and we don't know anything about who is taking the product from the factory. i think it's more so from management instead of a "poor underpaid factory worker".