[dorianj]

Yes. It's already somewhat common elsewhere in the world, by simply printing new barcodes for other sku's, sticking it on an expensive product, then hoping the cashier won't notice (they often don't in a store with a lot of different products, like Wal-Mart).

The charges are different, though, since it's fraud and not outright shoplifting.

[travem]

A VP at SAP was accused of swapping barcodes on lego sets recently and charged with 4 counts of felony burglary [1]

[1] http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/VP-of-Palo-Altos-SAP-Ar...

[stordoff]

Under English law, swapping the barcode is still considered to be theft. The case of R v Morris[1] covers very similar facts.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Morris;_Anderton_v_Burnside