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Fake HDMI cable crackdown - Taiwanese police raid suppliers of counterfeit HDMI cables, seize $2.6 million in knockoffs in a single day

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/taiwan-cracks-down-on-counterfeit-hdmi

Police seized infringing goods valued at over TWD$80 million (USD$2.6 million) on Wednesday.

Fake HDMI cable crackdown - Taiwanese police raid suppliers of counterfeit HDMI cables, seize $2.6 million in knockoffs in a single day::Police in Taiwan have cracked down on counterfeit HDMI cable sales, raiding online sellers across the island.

26 comments

pedz

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It was warned that cables that have been manufactured without following HDMI standards and guidelines might not provide a good or consistent signals and might be poorly made. They might also have the potential to cause electrical fires.

So the cables are working and are not really "fake", but more like counterfeit. It's just that they didn't pay for the stupid license, ~~just like USB-C,~~ and thus those cables are IlLeGaL.

Poor quality cables can be official too, as paying for the license may take money away from quality. The concerns can be understandable but it sounds more like FUD to make sure people keep buying the "official" and "legal' cables.

All in all it's just a question of laws and money for a stupid connector.

EDIT: See replies to my comment. USB-C is not licensed. It just costs more than micro.

JCreazy

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Sorry to be a isn't but USB-C is an open standard and doesn't require a license.

pedz

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Oh, thanks for correcting. I thought it was why some manufacturers stuck with micro-usb.

originalucifer

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they stick with micro-usb becuase its already their supply chain. it costs money to change all that around, and why do it when you can just make it your customers problem. eventuallly the microusb chain will become more expensive and theyll swap

JCreazy

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That was due to manufacturers being cheap AF. There are even problems with manufacturers swapping USB C ports into where micro USB ports were without adding the proper resistors so it doesn't work properly.

lud

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No, that's probably just stupidly.

pedz

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I googled it a bit and apparently the micro usb cling is mostly because of cost and design. I thought the cost was about licensing fees but since there are indeed none for this connector, it seems to be about how USB-C is much more complex to implement on a circuit. So in order to simplify the circuitry and also save a few pennies on every device, we're apparently stuck with micro usb for a while.

QuaternionsRock

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It is. HDMI is proprietary technology.

DisplayPort ftw

asdfasdfasdf

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How did you get that from this quote? It says they don't follow standards and could even cause fires. That's not simply "they didn't pay for a license".

BorgDrone

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Causing fires seems very unlikely. An HDMI port outputa 5V at 500mA at most.

pedz

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This sounds like FUD.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt (often shortened to FUD) is a manipulative propaganda tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information, and is a manifestation of the appeal to fear.

The line about the "warning" sounds exactly like like my old boss when he was selling LCD panels and telling people they had to clean their monitor with the special liquid he was selling at 200% markup because otherwise it would ruin their warranty. Or like some big box employee trying to sell you gold plated HDMI cables so the image can be better quality. Gotta buy the certified one because the cheapo could cause issues!

It's an HDMI cable FFS! It probably has been made in the exact same plant than other HDMI cables, but without paying for the license.

Transporter_Room_3

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Tldr FUDs suck, then I kind of rant, and it gets away from me a bit.

Having dealt with FUDs in other hobbies, this shit is EVERYWHERE once you start looking for it.

I love asking people why their thing is better though. Like your boss, I would ask what makes his liquid special, then every time I get a generic answer, I'd ask for more specifics.

Oh, it's special. What makes it special? it's got special properties other cleaning liquids don't? Like what? Ooh, "enzymes?" what enzymes? What is their function? How is it produced? What will happen if I use other liquids? How do those enzymes protect the screen?

And depending on how petty I felt, and how much time I had to kill, I'd keep going until they yell at me to leave or I get some kind of admission that their product is bs. Even if that admission is the "fine then don't use my superior product, I don't have to explain anything" crap they use to make themselves feel better. That's not technically an admission, but to me it says "I have no faith in the words I'm saying, and continuing would only do harm to my product branding since it's all bullshit"

So far I've only gotten one actual admission of "okay I'm just making this shit up as I go, just stop talking so loud please, I have to sell stuff" and honestly I respect that man more than any other peddler I've met.

JustZ

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Another example from the same article is the $2.6m price tag. If they don't work and cause fires, why are they worth any money?

ironeagl

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...because they were being sold?

Blackmist

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Not following standards is a given, considering all the Madeuptech branded cheap 8K cables immediately replaced the 4K cables on Amazon, and were the same price. There was no way they'd retooled all their shit or tested each cable, they just knew that hardly anybody was going to be pushing max bandwidth through one so sold the old ones with new labels on the bag.

And sure, they'll probably work for the most part. You'll just get more dropouts than one that was designed for it.

BorgDrone

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Madeuptech branded cheap 8K cables immediately replaced the 4K cables on Amazon, and were the same price. There was no way they'd retooled all their shit or tested each cable

They don’t really need to as there is no such thing a a ‘4K or 8K cable’. HDMI cables come in three speeds: standard, high speed and ultra-high speed. You can send 8K video through a high-speed cable just fine, depending on the frame rate. Or you might need an ultra high-speed cable even for 4k if you’re running ar 120Hz.

SkybreakerEngineer

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Selling a component that you know isn't likely to work? That's called fraud

pedz

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There is nothing saying the cables don't work. The article speculates that they may be faulty but it's just that, speculation. It's just that the manufacturer didn't pay to have the HDMI logo/license. A logo or a license won't make the cables faulty.

The fraud is not paying the license to the consortium, but the consumers should not really see anything wrong with it. It's a digital signal. Even if the cable is poor quality, it either works, or not.

I guess maybe the only problem that could arise from this is when trying to watch DRM content on cables that are not properly licensed, there may be some sort of HDCP protection that will not work properly. Maaaaaybe.

So yes, it's fraud, but not really towards the consumers. The manufacturer was committing fraud by making HDMI cables without paying the license. The cables should be fine but they had to write something about them, like "you know, maybe they will be poor quality or don't work" to encourage people not to buy them. It's about money, not the cables.

Kusimulkku

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The fraud is not paying the license to the consortium, but the consumers should not really see anything wrong with it. It's a digital signal. Even if the cable is poor quality, it either works, or not.

I'd see something wrong with my cable just not working

I guess maybe the only problem that could arise from this is when trying to watch DRM content on cables that are not properly licensed, there may be some sort of HDCP protection that will not work properly. Maaaaaybe.

Could be they're just selling cables that don't do what thet claim they do. 4K, HDR, good luck.

originalucifer

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“infringement market value” of approximately USD$2.6 million

hear that, they got an entire box of cables of the market

geogle

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Monster cables

Ebby

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Let's see here. $2.6 million divided by 3,037 cables is...

colbertcalculator.gif

$856/cable. Dang! That's some premium digital data conveyance!

I gotta find this infringement market. I got 2 solo cups, some string, and an Apple sticker!

otter

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colbertcalculator.gif

here you go

xaxl

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Sounds like the Taiwanese police were under some pressure to make a big bust so they pulled out a box of cheap cables they acquired from the local markets and made up some public service maths to look good.

JustZ

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Then they valued it like US drug cops. Oh yeah, one bag of misc. cables from someone's junk drawer, that's, uhh, $2,600,000, street value.

autotldr

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

Public service broadcaster PTS and the Liberty Times both published reports on Wednesday, sharing news of a police raid that netted 3,037 counterfeit HDMI cables from online sellers based in several major cities.

While the PTS reports characterize online sellers of counterfeit HDMI products as “unscrupulous operators,” the Police Department’s view seems to be less judgmental.

We've already mentioned that counterfeit HDMI goods were seized to an “infringement market value” of approximately USD$2.6 million in just one day this week.

The Taiwanese reports also cite statistics that suggest that between 2022 and August 2023 counterfeit HDMI products worth nearly TWD$4 billion (USD$128 million) were sold on the island.

It was warned that cables that have been manufactured without following HDMI standards and guidelines might not provide a good or consistent signals and might be poorly made.

In the meantime, we had a quick check through Shopee online marketplace listings in Taiwan and there still seems to be a plethora of suspicious HDMI cables for sale.

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