Not that this is the first time someone has had an issue with E-Bay. Not to long ago I was warned that I might get my acount cancelled by E-Bay because I was selling copies of the Series "The Myseterious Cities of Gold" which I had transfered from VHS copies recorded back in the 80s when the show was on Nick. The told the buyers what they were buying showed them the quality ect which turned out really good considering the age and condition. I checked to see if it was available in stores at all and the series was and as far as I could find out still out of print. No one complainted and everyone was well informed on what they were buying, and I always got positve feedback. Then E-Bay big brother told me I couldn't do that anymore or risk getting banned. My question is how can that happen when you have people selling duplicates of Hollywood films burned from the computer on CD Rom or even bootlegs like I saw a few copies of Episode III star wars that had bids? on E-Bay
ebay seems to only go after the little guys for some reason. Example, just about any HK seller. They can and should shut these guys down real quick. My guess is they make enough money from these people they don't really care.
Also, the people who hold the rights to thing seem to be able to have ebay to do something about it. Example, try listing an everquest account or a wow account. They may not catch it b4 it sells, but it will be removed even after the listing if it sells.
It only takes e-bay a few days to find illegal auctions. Plus I think Nick found the show for sale and had a fit. E-bay ,as any business, hides in a corner when a person brings them a potential tort case, so they will pinch you then get nailed.
They don't trawl thru auctions normally. They will look at ones that are reported and if obviously illegal they will take them down.
Also some rights holders are able to take down auctions they want if they think they are illegal.
Big sellers are probably allowed a bit more consideration due to the revenue brought in.
Also, complaining others are doing illegal things on ebay doesn't really persuade ebay to reconsider. They just ignore you i found out.
I guess their strategy is to do the minimum to satisfy the rights holders but also maximise the revenue they receive for the sales since illegal stuff makes up a significant part of its profits. Another thing is they manage to always blame someone else and never take responsibility for anything which is quite ingenious since it tends to work most of the time.