INFO: eBay v. AuctionWatch?

I am currently attending a meeting in Palo Alto, and I picked up this tidbit in today's San Francisco Chronicle. I thought it might be of interest to folks on this list. (Sorry, I don't have a URL -- not even sure the SFC is online. I've extracted a few relevant sentences to give you the flavor of the article.)

   eBay Warns Rival To Stop Bid Searches    By Tom Stein
   Chronicle Staff Writer

      Online auction powerhouse eBay Inc. has verbally issued a cease    and desist order against AuctionWatch.com, a Web site that provides    a variety of services to people who participate in Internet auctions.

      At issue is AuctionWatch's newly launched search engine, called    Universal Search, which scours up to 300 auction sites and returns    the latest listings so that buyers and sellers don't have to visit    each site individually to find the best prices.

   ...

      To prove it is serious, eBay officials yesterday contacted    AuctionWatch President Rodrigo Sales and informed him that if he    did not shut down the Universal Search service, eBay would block    AuctionWatch from accessing its site.

      "We have let AuctionWatch know we will cut off their IP address    if they move ahead with Universal Search," said eBay spokesman    Kevin Pursglove. "We are exploring all technical and legal options."

      Pursglove claimed there are serious intellectual property issues    at play. He stated that eBay has struggled long and hard to make    its site a success and that AuctionWatch has no business profiting    off "the sweat of eBay."

The "sweat of the brow" statement was the one that really caught my attention. I'm no lawyer, but I don't see where eBay has a legal leg to stand on -- especially considering the official eBay position is that they don't own the information posted on their site. (Presumably, IP rights are retained by the people authoring the items?).

Comments?

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