In a cramped store on Cermak Road in Chicago's Chinatown, rows of knockoff designer-label goods, including Chanel purses, Louis Vuitton luggage and a pristine pair of Nike Air shoes, could be yours for the price of a meal or a movie.

The store owner knows they're fake, and so do most of his customers.

A $10 Gucci wallet? Too good to be true. But savvy shoppers like a deal, and what could be wrong with getting a high class accessory on a working class budget?

More than you think, said Ed Kelly, an intellectual property rights attorney.

"A lot of people, when they buy a fake handbag or a fake watch, feel like they're getting away with something," Kelly said. "They're buying a luxury item to show off to friends. Everyone knows that it's fake, but it looks good."

But Kelly, an American lawyer who works at Tilleke Gibbins Law in Bangkok, Thailand, works hard to change the way shoppers think about counterfeit products. Kelly kicked off the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition's spring conference in Chicago on Wednesday, urging consumers to boycott knockoff products. He wants shoppers to understand where their money is going and what activities that money supports.

"It's time that American consumers begin to understand these negative effects," IACC President Nils Montan said.

Fake products from Dolce and Gabbana to Duracell cost legitimate manufacturers and retailers through lost profits and jobs, and the community loses tax revenues. Knockoffs are also tied to organized crime, horrendous working conditions, child labor and even terrorism, Kelly said.

"It's been estimated that New York City loses $1 billion in tax revenue because of counterfeiting, enough money to hire 40,000 public school teachers," Montan said.

Counterfeiting infiltrates all industries, from designer bags to prescription drugs to DVDs, golf clubs and apparel.

But arguably few shoppers have slave labor in mind when shopping on the streets of Chicago or New York.

Chicago resident and student Kimberly Nowells has a cousin from Texas who once came all the way to Chicago in search of a deal. She settled on a small Louis Vuitton bag. But Nowells said her cousin didn't know about the sinister side of her cheap purchase.

"It would change things if she knew," Nowells said.

Not all knockoffs are found on street corners or shady back alleys, Kelly noted.

Counterfeit goods have unknowingly been sold in major chain stores and even pharmacies, he said. But some decisions -- the "knowing, willful purchase of false products" as Kelly said -- are completely in the customer's control.

"When you buy these goods, you're creating the demand," Kelly said. "And supply always meets demand. You shouldn't want to be associated with that."

Worldwide, the IACC estimates that counterfeit product sales total about $600 billion. This flood of fakes in the market makes it hard for retailers to compete across the globe.

In the U.S., seizure of counterfeit goods rose by 83 percent in 2006, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The department made more than 14,000 seizures worth more than $155 million.

In Chicago, police seized more than 13,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes on the South Side this month, valued at $1.1 million. In another case, three men were arrested for selling fake Nike shoes at businesses in the northern suburb of Zion.