Charitable IP and the Russia debacle

I know it's tempting to say that companies should turn a blind eye to IP infringement if it benefits a good cause, but we need to keep in mind what happens when charity becomes the safe haven for illegal activity.

1990s Russia provides a telling example. Nonprofits played a major role in the decline of Soviet power--for almost twenty years, a strong network of seemingly non-ideological associations evolved slowly to create a powerful and trusted alternative to the corrupt Communist Party. Within five years of the Soviet Union's collapse, the trust was gone, in large part because the new government took a laissez-faire attitude to charitable commerce and fundraising. The result was an unholy alliance between organized crime and leading charities, who joined together to exploit legal loopholes for the alleged common good.

I know it's rough to get a C&D, and yes, corporations sometimes do overstep their bounds. But it's equally important to remember that small things add up to big things, and if we're not careful charity can become the leading venue for traffic in illicit merchandise.