We're Giving Away a 2012 "You Can't Fake Fashion" Tote!

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It’s round two of the CDFA directed and eBay sponsored “You Can’t Fake Fashion” drive to raise awareness against counterfeit goods, and the latest stop on the campaign trail was last night’s preview of the 2012 bags. It's a cause big enough to bring together 75 designers as varied as The Row, Tory Burch, Peter Som, and rag & bone, all of whom feel their creative efforts should be protected against piracy by law. Each of the participants provided their support by designing a custom tote bearing the phrase "You Can't Fake Fashion" to be sold on eBay in May. Discover three less-than-obvious facts we learned about the project last night, plus, find out how to win your own "You Can't Fake Fashion" tote after the jump.

1. eBay sells designer bags and shoes every sixteen seconds. So how can such a large online market comprised of so many people buying and selling designer goods be regulated? Alan Marks, eBay's senior vice president of global communications, told CNBC that they use filtering technology to identify common posts alluding to counterfeit, like “disclaimers” and “doubts about an item’s authenticity.” In short, eBay can’t do a lot, unless counterfeiters are broadcasting that the goods are bogus. So, basically, it’s up to the designers to identify forgery and alert eBay, who then ban the sellers from the site.

2. Counterfeits might be hazardous to your health. Legit designers' products can be regulated, counterfeiters' can not, so in the case of the latter, there is no guarantee your new bags, shoes, cosmetics, etc. aren't harmful in some way, whether that means they were produced with toxic materials or sweatshop labor. Don't believe that? Remember Hai Yan Jiang of the recent counterfeit UGG super-bust: “When asked whether counterfeit cosmetics might be harmful to users, Jiang replied that if he were going to worry about such things, he might as well “go be a monk.”

3. You can join the crusade by buying a tote. The designer totes, as well as four styles of standard totes, will be available starting March 20 at 11am (EST) on eBay.com and fashionvault.ebay.com. The “buy it now” price for the designer handbag is $200 and the standard tote, which you can feel free to bedazzle in your original design, are $45.

However, we're giving one away for free! These guys sold out on eBay during last year's campaign, so get yours first right here. Here's how: Sign up for our newsletter below. In this afternoon's edition we'll release a secret phrase and the first person to email us at national@racked.com with the phrase, their full name, and their mailing address get the tote and the glory. Please note you must have a US mailing address to win.

· You Can't Fake Fashion On eBay [eBay]
· All Counterfeiting Coverage [Racked]