eBay fights back against pirates

Online auction company eBay is fighting back against piracy by enforcing a policy that prohibits the sale of copyrighted material on its site.

Over the past few days eBay has sent out emails to its customers advising them about the new policy which specifically prohibits the sale of music copied onto CD-R and CD-W formats by anyone other than the copyright owner. The policy is being enforced from the 17 October.

eBay accepts that the policy will be difficult to police, but it is relying on users adhering to the policy, copyright owners checking the site for pirated goods and law enforcement agencies who continually watch out for such crimes.

If eBay catches anyone on its site selling pirated goods it will immediately suspend their selling abilities and contact law enforcement agencies.

eBay opted to bring in the policy following investigations by government agencies and copyright owners who found that the majority of CD-Rs and backup copies sold on the site are in violation of copyright.

Industry watchers are expecting other auction sites to follow eBay’s lead.

The new policy reads: "Duplicated Items - Some people make their own copies of movies, TV shows and music on video, VCD (video compact disc), DVD (digital versatile disc), CD and audio tape. These are potentially infringing items because the production companies, artists or record companies (copyright owners) own the rights to the works and must authorise any copying or distribution of them. Unauthorised copies of such copyrighted works should not be listed on eBay."

The policy also covers live recordings and bootlegged material.