EBay has been hit with a €20,000 fine after being found liable for counterfeit goods sold on its site. The landmark ruling, which is the first in a long line of such lawsuits, may set a precedent that puts liability on eBay for all counterfeit goods sold on its site in the future. In the latest case a French court found in favour of French luxury group Hermes.While eBay has consistently honoured takedown requests on counterfeit items, the ruling does not bode well for future lawsuits. EBay is also known to be in the crosshairs of Tiffany and Louis Vuitton, among others. Portero.com, an online auction marketplace that authenticates branded luxury products, estimates that as much as $15bn, or 10 per cent of the branded luxury goods sold globally, are counterfeit.
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Then don't use their service. Simple as that. Bottom line is that a ruling like this does nothing but put every online auction house at risk. It's not feasible for a "open" online auction house with as many items as ebay to check the authenticity of every item since they are not physically in their possession.
All this means is that Ebay and other sites will start banning the sale of heavily counterfeited merchandise. So instead of you getting a fake Rolex you just won't see Rolex's for sale on ebay
But I also got an obviously counterfeit Nokia cell phone battery for a $1. Hey it works. Course it's my risk if I wanna blow a hole in my pants
There's always all those copies of Windows 98 that look legit, but quite clearly they look like they aren't
As long as ebay make it clear in their terms that selling illegal or counterfeit goods is not permitted (which I'm fairly sure they have always done), I don't see what else they could do.
Legally, it's eBay, but no one seems to care as editors always alter it to something else or go off the wall like this with inconsistant names
Oh that's right it's the consumer's unwillingness to research their own purchase decisions! This is really becoming a problem. I really wish these people would get a job and contribute to society rather than sue, sue, sue.
If they don't overturned this, eBay will just prevent Europe to participate on eBay.
"Awww, you mean the Tiffany Cuff-links I bought off the Internet are fake?" People trying to save a little money end up getting screwed in the anus. If they were not so cheap, they'd paid a little more... and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
I buy from online stores with no bs.
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