New York raps eBay over WTC souvenirs

Online auctioneer eBay has refused to issue a blanket ban on the sale of grisly souvenirs from the World Trade Centre attacks.

Pictures of people falling to their death and uncut emergency call tapes, as well as badges and pins from New York police and fire departments involved in the rescue attempts, went on sale on eBay almost straight away.

The company initially banned such sales for 90 days but relaxed the rules on 31 December to allow the sale of commemorative items with the condition that all monies were donated to charity. Following the decision, hundreds of items have now gone up for sale on the site.

As a result, New York City administrators have asked eBay to pull items from its website that "exploit the World Trade Centre tragedy for private gain".

Michael Cardozo, counsel for the City of New York Corporation, said in a letter to eBay: "Many of these items represent outrageous attempts to profit from a recent act of mass murder. The items themselves in many cases may constitute, or be the result of, unlawful activity."

Among the items Cardozo called "nauseating" and "morally repugnant" were a child's puzzle toy from one of the jets which crashed into the World Trade Centre, and an item described as a "rescue audio" containing things that were never spoken of in radio and TV accounts.

Cardozo asked eBay to ban the material at least until the city and the auction company can agree on what could be sold.

In response, eBay deputy general counsel Robert Chesnut explained that some of the objectionable items have been removed, including the rescue audio and the child's toy. Emergency medical treatment and Fire Department photos have also been removed.

Chesnut said in a letter to Cardozo that eBay "needs the city's assistance to distinguish between authorised items that may be benefiting good causes, and infringing items which we all agree are unacceptable".

According to Chesnut, about 25 per cent of the related items on the auction website are being sold by New York area residents.

He added that eBay would remove other items which violated either trademark laws, such as New York Police Department or Fire Department logos, or company policies as soon as the city notified the company about them.