- The CCAAC then went on to recommend that “online transactions (including online auctions such as eBay) should be covered by the national statutory consumer guarantees in the same way as in-store transactions” (Recommendation 10.1, page 111).
- In the light of this recommendation, and the clear intention of the Australian Consumer Law to provide wide ranging protection for consumers, I consider that the purpose of provision will best be met by limiting auctions to physical auctions where the consumer does have the opportunity to inspect the goods before purchasing, analogous to in-store transactions.
- In the circumstances, I am not satisfied this arrangement was a sale by auction and therefore s. 54 and 55 of the Australian Consumer Law apply.
A blog relating to Internet legal issues by Professor John Swinson, University of Queensland
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Tiffany v. eBay
EBay Inc did not engage in trademark infringement and dilution by selling counterfeit Tiffany & Co goods on its website, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday, but it ordered further review of the jeweler's claim of false advertising.
Tiffany and other luxury brands have long argued that counterfeit merchandise bearing their names is sold on eBay. The Web commerce company, which does not itself put the goods up for sale, says it has spent millions of dollars to track down counterfeiters and remove such listings.
eBay & French Court Decision
In its judgment of 13 May 2009, the Court ruled that eBay's activity consisting in storing the listings prepared by vendors and making them available online was a hosting activity, benefiting from the hosting provider protective status. Yet, the Court suggested that the parties had recourse to judicial mediation, in order to cooperate and agree on measures to be implemented to put an end to the sale of counterfeit products on the auction sales platform. With regard to eBay's advertising activities, the Court considered that the platform could not benefit from the hosting provider protective status, since its role was no longer passive, and such activities were not essential to the hosting activity. The Court nevertheless held eBay not liable, since L'Oréal did not clearly establish the alleged infringement.
Paris Civil Court, 13 May 2009
Source: T LAW ALERT - No. 2009/03 - GIDE LOYRETTE NOUEL A.A.R.P.I.
Recent Articles About Ebay
EBAY AND YAHOO FORM ADVERTISING ALLIANCE
Yahoo and eBay have reached a multi-year advertising and
commercial partnership aimed at boosting their position
against Web search leader Google. According to the deal,
Yahoo will be the exclusive third-party provider of all
graphic ads throughout eBay's auction site. Yahoo has also
chosen eBay's online payment system PayPal to allow its own
customers to pay for Yahoo Web services.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-media-yahoo-ebay.html
MORPHEUS MAKERS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST EBAY
StreamCast Networks, the creators of the Morpheus
file-sharing software, is alleging in a lawsuit that auction
house eBay is profiting from peer-to-peer technology that
rightfully belongs to it. StreamCast claims in a lawsuit
filed Monday in the U.S. Central District Court in Los
Angeles that Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the duo who
developed the technology behind companies Kazaa and Skype,
of breaking an agreement to give StreamCast the first right
to purchase their FastTrack peer-to-peer protocol.
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6075933.html
SUPREME COURT ORDERS NEW HEARING FOR EBAY
The US Supreme Court has handed a victory to patent-reform
advocates, ruling that MercExchange was not automatically
entitled to a court order in a patent dispute with eBay. In
a closely watched case, the court unanimously ruled that
judges have flexibility in deciding whether to issue court
orders barring continued use of a technology after juries
find a patent violation. Decision at
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/05-130.html
Coverage at
http://tinyurl.com/s2q86
EBAY USER SENTENCED TO FIVE MONTHS IN JAIL FOR THREATS
A Romanian native unhappy with eBay Inc.'s business
practices was sentenced to five months in prison for making
e-mailed threats against two of the company's top officers.
Florin Horicianu also received five months of electronic
monitoring and was ordered to stay away from eBay employees
and events
http://tinyurl.com/ng8s7
UK INTRODUCES LAW TO BLOCK SOCCER TICKET SALES ON EBAY
FIFA IS set for a legal battle with eBay after the auction
site failed to halt the sale of unofficial World Cup tickets
on their website. The UK Government yesterday introduced a
change in the law governing the sale of tickets for the
World Cup not authorised by football's world governing body
Fifa. Under the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
it was already an offence to sell tickets for any of
England's group matches at this summer's finals in Germany.
But yesterday's amendment widened the definition of a
designated match covered by the legislation making it
illegal to sell tickets for any World Cup games.
http://tinyurl.com/ggmcq
'WARCRAFT' MAKER SUED FOR BLOCKING SALES OF UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
Makers of the wildly popular "World of Warcraft" online game
now face a lawsuit from an eBay seller who claims he was
improperly barred from selling copies of his own unofficial
gaming guide. During several months beginning last August,
24-year-old Brian Kopp sold several hundred copies of his
guide, which contains tips on playing the game and
accumulating points, at roughly $15 apiece. Weeks after his
first auction went live, Blizzard, Vivendi, and the ESA
began sending repeated takedown notices under the DMCA,
asking eBay to yank the auctions because of copyright and
trademark infringement concerns.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6053716.html
TOWN AUCTIONED ON EBAY UP FOR SALE AGAIN
The first town ever auctioned on eBay soon will be back up
for sale on the online auction site. Nearly two years after
he bought the tiny town of Bridgeville, Orange County
financial adviser Bruce Krall says he plans to re-auction
the Humboldt County hamlet on eBay next month.
<http://tinyurl.com/ftcq6>
POLICE OFFICER SELLS STOLEN VEHICLE ON EBAY
A police officer in Florida has been charged with selling a
car that he knew had been stolen over eBay to a man in North
Carolina. The Florida Highway Patrol was brought into this
by the Kissimmee Police Department because, when North
Carolina authorities called, officers realized the man they
were investigating was one of their own.
http://www.wftv.com/news/2544472/detail.html
eBay patent case
US Government sideas against eBay in patent dispute
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