Every time this comes up I get very confused. Not all of these arguments have been made yet, but MAP has come up, so the rails are off anyway.
Companies using other companies IP is bad if they take the branding as well, but is okay if they only take a little and use their own brand, and its sometimes okay if they make an "original" design with stolen branding?
Companies should not restrict dealers because the dealers should set the market, Dealers should not be able to have exclusive products because the company should set the market.
All products should be available at all times without consideration for market share, likely sales, production schedules, manufacturing capacity surplus etc.
Companies are not harmed by the reputation of their dealers because everyone knows they are separate, dealers are hurt by the actions of the company ie warranty support.
Companies are at fault for QC, and dealers should check for QC, no knife should ever be produced at a tolerance of greater than a single GBF (Gnat's Bum Fuzz)
20$ knock-off knives don't hurt companies because that person was never going to be aspirational and buy a better knife ever, Pricing knives above an arbitrary point is a poor business decision.
All products must meet a budget, but cost of material and labor should always be to the highest available standard.
All products below my price-point are garbage, all products above my price-point are over-priced.
My wage has not kept up with the rate of inflation, so therefor the products I like should not get more expensive than my ability to buy them.
My standards of morality are unimpeachable, beyond reproach and above question. Yours however are either society destroyingly low, or just insufferably high. I mean, we are talking some things that look like other things, its never come to the level of fraud, libel, theft, or the unexplained death of a business partner.
Now with that out of the way, my view on this. It is the point of this forum to ensure that the public, should they want to know, has as many records of as many deeds within the manufactury of our chosen hobby so that they can make choices based upon their overall view of the world. Therefor its in the forums best interest to bring up Ganzo's past and further companies tied to them just as is the case with shady custom makers, and designers who are bigger than their boots. If someone puts up the ninth crowd funding campaign to pay off the failed eighth, then this forum should let people know. If people get mad about that, then maybe they should try untangulate their feelings and their pocket books and decide if a couple hours of their labor is worth the asking price for the thing they want.
More directly DocJD, If ya got the answers to all the world's problems, why are you here slumming with us? Ya might have noticed that Superman and friends have not made a showing, and so we need someone to go fight on behalf of truth, justice and some idealized version of the american way (Somewhere between Roosevelt and Carter, minus the company towns and corporate invasions, if you don't mind, just being historical, not that other thing) We need a hero. Every inventor, manufacturer, producer of some sort who has a sucessful product that is protected under a brand, trademark or whathaveyou, that I have ever heard, has said that their biggest foe is counterfeiting and what that does to their reputation. Now they could all be wrong, and could all just be trying to oversell their product. Its possible, large groups of people have been wrong in the past, however it tends to be unlikely if said singular mindset is not inspired by a leader or other personal bias. I dunno. Do some more reading on cognitive bias, re-read a few threads with something blocking the names in the sidebar.
Same time next year? Or are we doing this quarterly these days?
IMO , ideally a "forum" is a place to freely exchange information and differing opinions between members , in a somewhat civil manner .
You brought it up regarding Sal . Then called my answer a rant . 
It's much easier to attack Ganzo rather than actual counterfeiters , or your own pricing policies , QC etc . If customers prefer to buy a Ganzo copied from your brand , maybe you should try to understand why . But it actually seems to me that most folks buying $20 Ganzos never were going to buy a big brand name expensive knife . Different market entirely . 
