Re: INFO: eBay v. AuctionWatch?

On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Craig A. Summerhill <craig[_at_]cni.org> wrote:
>
> 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?

The URL for the full story is:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/10/05/BU103461.DTL

Beth Forrest Warner
Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Information Services 502 Watson Library
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
785/864-3601 (voice)
785/864-5311 (fax)
bwarner[_at_]ukans.edu Received on Wed Oct 06 1999 - 20:56:37 GMT