In response to NOP research published in 2007 that suggested that 9% of UK adults had mistakenly bought fake DVDs believing them to be the real thing, the online auction site eBay has linked with UK anti-piracy body the Industry Trust for IP Awareness to educate its users about fake DVDs.

The partnership with the Industry Trust marks the second phase of eBay's consumer awareness campaign, ‘eBay Against Counterfeits,’ which was launched in September. Using the Trust's ‘Knock-Off Nigel’ advertisements, the campaign will target eBay's 14 million active British users with a light-hearted new help tool: ‘The Smart Buyer's Guide to Avoiding Knock-Off DVDs.’

The campaign aims to limit the trade in fake goods by educating users about how and why to avoid knockoffs and is supported by eBay's Verified Rights Owner program, which enables 18,000 rights owners to report items they believe to be counterfeit so that eBay can remove them.

“We're already working closely with brand owners and law enforcement agencies to keep fakes off the site, but recognize that this needs to go hand in hand with tackling consumer demand. Working with the Trust to enable buyers to avoid knock-offs and communicate why this is important in a light-hearted manner is one of the ways we will achieve this," said Richard Ambrose, eBay's head of customer support and trust and safety in the UK.

Story filed 23.04.08