H.
Harry wrote:All distilling group owners &mods are encouraged to pass the following message on to their members. The more people that see it, the less likely we are to suffer.
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This is an open letter specifically aimed at all the numb-nut, dumb-ass fools out there that think they can make a million by producing, distributing and/or selling counterfeit alcoholic spirits. YOU WILL BE CAUGHT !!
Law enforcement worldwide has at their fingertips, a portable instrument that can easily detect any non-commercial product.
The "Authenticator", a portable Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer, can be used for virtually any alcoholic or non alcoholic liquid from champagne to mineral water. Be sure to read ALL the downloadable pdf's.
http://www.spectroscopic.co.uk/brand-au ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I remind all visitors to our websites that WE ARE A HOBBY GROUP. Do NOT think that you can learn a bit & then go away and make your fortune as a bootlegger. I repeat, YOU WILL BE CAUGHT !!
Episodes like the Geelong Bust** (thanks the report Marc) only undo all the good work we groups and group members have done towards gaining respectability and legality for our hobby.
** http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/art ... _news.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
So, is it an isolated case? Sadly no. Counterfeiting is a worldwide problem. The following is taken from "Havocscope", the online database of world black market activities. http://www.havocscope.com/tag/counterfeit-alcohol/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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The International Federation of Spirits Producers stated that counterfeit alcohol leads to an estimated Euro 500 to 600 million ($700 million) annual loss.
[Source: Neil Merrett, " Czech sting reveals Eastern Europe's fake spirits boom," CEE-Foodinustry.com, August 3, 2006]
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The Scotch Whisky Association** is kept busy from fighting counterfeit bottles of scotch whisky. According to the organization, at any given time they are handling between 60 to 70 active cases regarding fake scotch.
** http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/swa/21.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
[Source: Christopher Mackie, "The worldwide fight to scotch counterfeit whisky trade,"Scotsman, July 20, 2009.]
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The state of Virginia estimates that it loses $20 million a year in tax revenue to "moonshining", a home-made and illegally smuggled whiskey.
According to the Economist, the whiskey is "cheaply made in 800-gallon stills, most of it smuggled to poor inner cities and sold at half the price of its legal counterparts, avoiding state and federal taxes which run at roughly $25 per gall (3.8 litres) of whiskey."
[Source: "Moonshine: Lighting strikes," The Economist, April 18, 2009.]
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Counterfeit bottles of vodka are set to account for up to half of all vodka sales in Russia this year, according to the Moscow Times. Last year, 12 million bottles of vodka was produced legally, while 17 million bottles were sold in stores. Thus, around 5 million bottles, or 28 percent of all sales, were of fake bottles of vodka. This year, the figure is expected to reach 50 percent as people attempt to save money.
[Source: Courtney Weaver, "Illegal Vodka Set to Account for Half of All Sales," Moscow Times, March 12, 2009.]
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My Conclusion:
These are enormous amounts of money that no government will ignore.
Because of these RENEGADE producers, I fear it's only a matter of time before free and innocent well-meaning hobby sites like ours are targeted by authorities. We will be forced to withdraw from the internet and any further dissemination of information regarding alcohol distillation.
Thanks for reading.
Slainte!
regards Harry