edit: Post above says basically the same thing. Posted whilst I was typing.
For all of the people claiming that the cloned chips are illegal, how do you know that all of the chips affected are actually counterfeit and not legitimate clones?
Dealing with clones
From the information presented so far in this thread, the cloning of chips is legal.
So if you produce a clone product without reverse engineering and then either don't brand it, or, put your own brand on it everything is fine and dandy.
FTDI has no right to damage this chip, as doing so is anti-competitive and is illegal in various parts of the world.
The problem is that the FTDI driver cannot determine if the chip has a fake logo on it before it affects its operation. Therefor FTDI have taken the position that clone products are fair game and FTDI are causing damage to someone else's product (the cloned chip). This then causes damage to the end users legitimately purchased product (FTDI have not proved that its a counterfeit) and must be held to account for the costs of repairing the now damaged equipment. Finally FTDI have not notified the end user of an issue, but rather just damaged the operation of the device.
As for the cloners using the FTDI VID/PID, this also is not illegal.
Its against the rules of an industry body, if your product has a USB certified logo on it or the documentation/packaging or makes various claims.
But if the product does not, then the cloners are not even breaking the rules. They are simply making a clone device.
Dealing with counterfeits
Taking a clone chip and putting a fake FTDI logo on the chip makes it a counterfeit.
FTDI and the appropriate authorities should take action against this.
The vendors of the products, their suppliers etc should all be investigated and the appropriate punishments delivered.
Organisations like eBay, PayPal, Amazon and their various vendors should also be informed and refunds/replacements of the products delivered. As the sale to the customer has involved a counterfeit product and a fraud has been perpetrated, the product warranty conditions and/or vendor returns rules would be difficult to enforce by the vendor in this situation.
Similarly the vendor needs to make a claim on their supplier and so on.
Given the current level of interest in this topic, it would be sensible for everyone people/companies affected to mass return these items and force the distribution channels for these counterfeit products to be held accountable.
Note: The only examples that I have personally seen did have the FTDI logo printed on them and therefor are counterfeit. In both cases I have approached the vendors involved for a refund or replacement. PayPal has been notified of the issue as well. Neither has responded at this stage.