At a Glance
As an Internet intermediary that facilitates the connection between buyers and sellers worldwide through its various sites and services, eBay believes that the responsibilities of online platforms should be appropriately limited.
Internet intermediaries facilitate the connection between buyers and sellers worldwide. These online platforms should not be held legally responsible for law-infringing content created by users, but should fight against abuse of their services.
- Intermediaries need to be vigilant and effective in their efforts of taking down of law-infringing content after receiving a valid notice from the authorities or a content owner
- eBay is determined to fight abuses such as sales of counterfeit goods, indecent or offensive material, and hazardous or recalled products
- Throughout its 25 years of operation, eBay’s efforts to protect users and rights owners continue to evolve and develop
- eBay works closely with government officials across the globe, law enforcement, and private sector stakeholders, to ensure that eBay’s platform is a safe environment for its users
Issue in Detail
As an Internet intermediary that facilitates the connection between buyers and sellers worldwide through its various sites and services, eBay strongly recognizes the importance and need of enforcement against illegal activities by platforms. eBay users must find the platform to be a safe place to buy and sell goods. Online intermediaries should not be held legally liable for law infringing content created by Internet users, as long as those intermediaries take appropriate action to endeavour to prevent content from appearing online, or take content down after receiving a valid notice from the authorities or a content owner.
Any illegal activity on the Internet negatively affects trust in the online market, and in particular between sellers and buyers. eBay is committed to promoting confidence on the Internet and is therefore determined to fight against any abuse of its services. These include the attempted sales of counterfeit goods, indecent or offensive material, and hazardous or recalled products. eBay’s approach to bad actors and goods tries to take into consideration that for the most part, the over 1.5 billion listings on our site come from good sellers.
eBay takes a comprehensive approach to prohibited items, including counterfeits, but no single policy, partnership, technology, or enforcement mechanism will adequately address bad actors. Our combination of people, policies, partnerships, and tools together help ensure the safety and trustworthiness of our marketplace.