logocruncher

I'm really astonished by the level of self-righteousness that exists on this thread regarding counterfeit jerseys. I have bought counterfeit jerseys in the past, and am not particularly ashamed to admit it. I don't feel like I'm less of a 'true fan' because I've done this; supporting my team and being an athletics aesthetics enthusiast don't make me any more willing to drop literally hundreds of dollars on a jersey, no matter how close it is to what's worn on the field. In fact, I sort of feel that buying into the absurdly-overpriced authentic jersey trade fosters the idea that fandom is something that can be bought and sold. What I AM opposed to is when fans make an uneducated decision and buy a counterfeit accidentally - this reflects a lack of attention to aesthetic details that concerns me a lot more than people's unwillingness to spend big bucks on a glorified shirt. As for the intellectual property dilemma, in principle I agree that buying and selling counterfeits constitutes theft. But somehow I'm unable to find any remorse for my actions when they're harming Nike and Adidas, two immoral and exploitative companies that could easily diminish the counterfeit problem by lowering the prices of their products.