On the Internet, nobody knows if your just a dog ...

Great story about NEC taken to the cleaners by a massive fraud.

Success on the Internet is only about powerful brands. See what people went thru to hijack a valuable brand.

NEC execs found pirated products in China bearing NEC's brand - no surprise, typical day in China suppressing pirates right? Wrong. Much bigger.

They faked an entire, parallel company - developing own range of products, manufacturing, distribution, even to collecting licensed royalties. The key to it all was exploiting the NEC brand. Sophisticated pirates, able to extract a fair fraction of the world-wide, annual, brand equity, and for years.

The funny thing was, they did indistinguishable, quality products - they also built the brand! Nobody could tell the difference.

You are your brand on the Internet, for good or ill - what they see is all that is. So perhaps the battle for brand control and brand building is the only battle worth winning. Even if you're just a dog.