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Dan Mathewson...so, stop comparing the two. People on here keep saying "eBay cannot be responsible for the fraud or for going after those committing fraud on eBay, anymore than we can blame the police for not catching Car Prowlers who steal airbags out of your cars, etc."
This is a ridiculous analysis/comparison. Why? Because eBay owns and operates the system on which we participate in the auctions. They have policies which are meant to protect bidders. They state they will go after fraudulent persons, shill bidders, and so on. Then, when we give them a shill bidder's head on a plaque, with all the evidence, they ignore it. That is the crap that must be reconciled. The police don't OWN their systems and don't allow certain people in and not others. The justice system over the police do that, and they play by way different rules.
I'm NOT saying people shouldn't be stupid. I'm not saying people shouldn't be cautious. But, not everyone bidding is a professional collector. Not everyone bidding knows the crappola history of PRO, AAA, and the like. Not everyone can look at a 1915 Cracker Jack Card and tell the difference between that card and a reprint made 10 years later.
I AM saying that people who intentially commit fraud, deception and misrepresentation should be called on it, they should be punished for it, they should be suspended from eBay for it, they should (in some cases) be charged criminally for it.
EBay is responsible because it is THEIR SYSTEM which they own which is being used as a vehicle for it. If they ignore that fact, when the evidence is placed before them, then they are guilty, too. ESPECIALLY since they profit also from that fraud, especially when that fraud takes in a high dollar value, their percentage is then higher, thus making them a willing, profiting accomplice.
Any way you slice it, they have a responsibility to protect bidders. They are a profitable company and can afford to increase those services to protect their clients who use (and pay to use) their system, since their own policies state that this is what they guarantee. Pretty simple math.
Back to the police analogy, the police don't own the systems in which people commit crimes. They just try to do what they can, after the fact, to find the perps. Sometimes they are lucky and stumble upon a crime when it is happening. Not often. EBay usually has 7 days of the criminal activity to look at while it is happening. And, 90 days afterward while it still sits on THEIR system. (And, probably longer in an archive somewhere). If you provide a vehicle of commerce such as this, you had better believe you have some responsibility not only for its content, but the conduct of the people using it when you both make money from it.
-dan
08-06-2002, 10:17 PM
Auction Fraud Article
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