Re: INFO: eBay v. AuctionWatch?

On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Colin Seeger <seeger[_at_]ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Craig A. Summerhill <craig[_at_]cni.org> wrote:
> >
> > The "sweat of the brow" statement was the one that eally 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?).
>
> Depends on what the engine actually does, but searching seems not to
> amount to a "substantial reproduction" any way you look at it. Can't
> see any "misleading and deceptive" elements there either so long as
> the info transcrition is accurate.

What the site does, actually, is presents a listing page with a link to the particular auction site offering the item. Hit the magic button, and you're right on the eBay page, ready to bid -- or any other site, depending on the magic button you hit. I would think this would thrill eBay -- I can instantly find what I want, the price I'd be willing to bid from, and then access the very site page I need to bid! If I don't know an item is ON eBay, unless i go directly to them (duplicated effort), I'm liable to bid from someone else's site -- and many of the sellers on eBay also offer items ON those other sites!

Barb

Barbara Ruhmann
Text Buyer
UCD Bookstore
University of California
2828 Cowell Blvd.
Davis, CA 95616
Phone 530-752-5538
Fax 530-752-4791
e-mail brruhmann[_at_]ucdavis.edu
http://www-bookstore.ucdavis.edu/ Received on Fri Oct 08 1999 - 23:56:38 GMT