posted on June 27, 2001 12:01:33 PM
A word of warning to sellers who like to attract bidders from outside the US: never use words like "Nazi" in your auctions if the item is not Nazi-related in any way, or access to the item page in question will be blocked for foreign bidders.
Tonight (local Dutch time), I tried to view the item page of an auction I was interested in. Instead of the item, I got this notice:
"Dear User:
Unfortunately, access to this particular category or item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in your home country. Based on our discussions with concerned government agencies and eBay community members, we have taken these steps to reduce the chance of inappropriate items being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases this policy may prevent users from accessing items that do not violate the law. At this time, we are working on less restrictive alternatives. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you, and we hope you may find other items of interest on eBay.
Thank You."
Being a law-abiding citizen of a democratic country, I certainly hate the idea of eBay determining what I'm allowed to see and what I'm not allowed to see. What makes this even stranger is that eBay still allows me to bid on gun parts, swords and certain knives (besides other items), all of which are strictly forbidden in The Netherlands. Yet it blocks access to an item that's PERFECTLY LEGAL.
"If we are going to do this, let's do it right, and not half-arsed." ...Certainly not the words spoken by the eBay employee who implemented this 'feature'.
(Of course, I'm not at all interested in Nazi stuff; in fact I was looking for certain Occupied Japan items).
[ edited by spotmatic on Jun 27, 2001 12:03 PM ]
posted on June 27, 2001 12:35:21 PM
Are you sure that owning Nazi items is not against the law in Holland? It is in France, Germany and Austria...Believe me, none of us are happy about this development in ebay either. I am stuck with a lot of stock that I was hoping to sell through ebay. The stupid thing is of course, that if someone sells an original copy of the DIary of Anne Frank and uses the word Nazi, you won't be able to view that either! The problem may be with your countrie's law and the net may block it out. I know this is going on in France right now.
Here's the interesting thing... I recently came across a book that was from the officer's library at Bergen Belsen and the name of the CO was written inside the cover. I wouldn't dream of selling that on ebay or at all, as I think it would be considered an icon by some neo-Nazi groups. It would be like owning a shirt that was worn by Hitler. However, technically, it could be sold on ebay as the book did not bear a swastika anywhere on it. It was a book printed in Germany in 1944 (which is unusual as most pleasure printing was ended in 1943) about the Sami of Scandinavia!
posted on June 27, 2001 01:18:38 PM
The eBay "blocking" system is just too simple to be usable. A friend of mine has bought a set of US Navy Identification Models of German ships, which was labeled by eBay as being an item associated with Nazi Germany and banned from viewing in certain countries. I mean, come on...
I'm pretty sure that owning vintage Nazi items is not against the law in Holland. Otherwise, my grandmother could be arrested for owning a work permit with swastikas printed all over...
Clearly, it would be a different matter with new items, created solely for the purpose of nazism and/or racism. I think it would be right to ban those items from eBay, just as I think it would be right to ban items made from endangered species.
However, I also think that it would be wrong to block people from auctions containing vintage items, as I do not think that putting a ban on history is right. What would be next? Will it be forbidden to bid on Roman coins because the Romans conquered and raided Europe at some time? Will I be arrested for auctioning a flint spear point because it was used by people who killed the last Mammoth?
posted on June 27, 2001 08:48:51 PM
Hello spotmatic. I totally agree with you. History and items associated with it should not be banned unless they are illegal to sell or own. For me, it brings the unpleasant associations of book burning and the like. Objects in and of themselves are not evil. The people and ideas behind the objects can be evil and if something must be banned then ban that element instead of the objects.
I find it very annoying that as a US citizen I'm unable to sell something that is legal to sell and own here because it's either illegal or deemed distasteful in another country. IMO, the other country or countries should be responsible for filtering the content for their citizens, NOT the USA eBay site.
