[gaucho]

Remind me not to use eBay any more...

[lizma]

Caveat venditor.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I can't get worked up about this. E-bay is a wonderful resource, but is also inherently prone to being abused for fraud and trafficking in stolen goods. A very strict privacy policy would quickly turn it into Disneyland for criminals. E-bay's management is eager to help catch the criminals, in order to protect us honest people, and keep the site a safe place to shop. Has anyone produced any evidence of E-Bay handing over information inappropriately? And any company will turn over credit card transaction info with a court order -- how do you think they found those two kidnapped children in Florida yesterday?

[Arkinsaw]

Science fiction writers predicted private corporate law enforcement a long time ago. We are heading toward a weird world.

[Oberon]

Ping for later reading.

[vbmoneyspender]

It would have been nice if the Nation would have asked Ebay about whether Sullivan made the comments he was alleged to have made and, if Ebay acknowledged he did make these comments, whether Ebay stood behind what Sullivan had said.

[Billy_bob_bob]

...says Nimrod Kozlovski of the Information Society Project...

Man oh man, that guy has had a hard life. Imagine going through life with a name like Nimrod Kozlovski.

[MattAMiller]

What exactly are you afraid is going to happen? Ebay is a marketplace, I wouldn't expect any anonimity there. In fact I wouldn't use a similar service that guarenteed anonimity, too open to fraud.

[July 4th]

Ebay's starting to suck as much as Paypal.

[Nick Danger]

I would like to alert the many fans of my highly collectable Elvis plates that I will no longer be conducting my sales on eBay.

I figured none of you people out there would ever be able to find out who took your money, but now I find out that eBay will tell the damned cops who I am!

I'm a big believer in privacy, especially for people selling things sight-unseen over a web site. When I put my ads up there offering my guaranteed, absolutely genuine Elvis plates, the last thing I want is for somebody to be able to find me afterwards. It's all about the Constitution and freedom. Yeah John Adams! Yeah Thomas Jefferson! And phooey on eBay. Thank you. Thank you verra much.

[CurlyDave]

eBay's business depends on minimizing fraud. Co-operation with law enforcement is part of that.

Freedom means freedom to cooperate with law enforcement just as much as it means freedfom to confront LE.

In some ways this is like small businesses that give freebies to cops. Not because the cops shake them down, but because increased police presence means fewer holdups and less crime in general.

As a rule, one should assume that any purchase made with a credit card can easily be known to law enforcement. Same for any purchase made on line.