My friend loves his LP Jr. fake Gibson from China. And this is a guy who really knows how to build guitars, and scratch built his main one: a perfect replica of a '50's humbucker-equipped Les Paul that is easily as good as any Historic/Custom Gibson. The key to being happy with a cheap guitar is in having realistic expectations. He does, and he is thrilled with the fake...and plays the hell out of it as if it was a guitar that cost 40x as much. The audience can't tell the difference; they're paying attention to the songs and how they are being played.
As for Gibson getting screwed by these fakes, I can't imagine that these guitars are hurting their bottom line in the slightest. If these guitars are in some inconceivable way hurting their precious "name," it can't possibly be more than they have already hurt it themselves. Screw 'em anyhow. They suck, they need the get their act together, and they deserved worse than they got from the big, bad government. I just can't muster up the slightest bit of sympathy for them.