FC: Simon Wiesenthal Center attacks Ebay

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[The Wiesenthal Center's intentions may be good, but I'm not sure if
reasonable people should praise book-banning efforts.]


> From: Paul Spirito <berezina () nihidyll com>
> Subject: SWC vs Ebay
> Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 03:27:20 -0500
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/cyber/articles/25auction.html
>
> | Ebay, the online auction service that has come under fire
> | in the past for letting people bid on pornography and
> | firearms, encountered more problems on Wednesday when a
> | group that monitors anti-Semitism complained about its
> | sale of Nazi memorabilia.
> |
> | A letter sent to the service by Simon Wiesenthal Center
> | in Los Angeles asked the company "to review its policy of
> | marketing items, many of which glorify Nazism." The
> | letter then noted that the sale of such items is illegal
> | in Germany, a relevant argument because, using the World
> | Wide Web, any user anywhere can buy from Ebay. 
> |
> | "My goal here is not to get Ebay indicted," said Rabbi
> | Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the center, who
> | registered the complaint. "My goal is to keep Ebay from
> | selling Nazi memorabilia in Germany." 
> |
> | In addition to sending a letter of complaint, Cooper said
> | that he planed to go to Berlin next week to discuss the
> | issue with Herta Däubler-Gmelin, the German minister of
> | justice.
>
> [...]
>
> | Just last week, Amazon.com said that it would stop
> | selling Hitler's ''Mein Kampf'' in Germany, citing German
> | laws prohibiting sales of hate literature. The move came
> | after Wiesenthal Center filed legal complaints against
> | Amazon and other Web-based booksellers in August.
>
> [...]
>
> | [Kevin Pursglove, a spokesman for Ebay] said that
> | blocking sales of items "is not something we want to
> | engage in" because Ebay's goal is to serve as a venue
> | without interfering in commerce. Further, he said, using
> | filtering software to limit such sales would not be
> | feasible, noting that such technology can be imprecise.
> | "It's never quite as easy as entering one or two key
> | words," Pursglove said.
>
> [...]


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