News Article
March 12, 2004
Trafficking ad on eBay stirs anger
Asian American Press News
The National Congress of Vietnamese Americans (NCVA) in Virginia is alarmed at
the discovery of an advertisement on eBay, the largest online marketplace in the
world, offering the sale of Vietnamese women. The ad has been removed but not
before many people in the community were shocked and are looking at ways to
prevent this from happening again.
The ad was entered on the Taiwanese eBay site and was pulled as soon as it was
discovered. The last known information was that the ad suggested a bid of
$180,000 and at least one bid of the amount of $5,411.88 was entered.
NCVA President Hung Nguyen said the ad has stirred much discussion from other
groups saying that federal rules should be implemented ensure oversight on such
trade activities online.
“In the past people would try to sell World War II Nazi paraphernalia and even
items from the Jewish concentration camps,” said Nguyen, who supported
“Operation Predator,” a federal program started last July that has since led to
the arrest of more than 2,000 persons involved in human trafficking in the
United States.
“The trafficking of Vietnamese women is a serious issue and the Department of
Justice has provided grants to organizations to provide social services to
immigrants here that are victims of human trafficking.”
Hani Durzy, eBay spokesperson, said the listing was entered from the Taiwan eBay
site and was immediately removed.
“It violated not only the law but our own policies,” said Dursey. “We
proactively removed it. We don’t allow the sale of people on eBay, whatsoever.”
Durzy said ebay is not run as an auction house, and that it is not uncommon to
find gag ads or someone trying to get attention by shocking eBay users.
eBay staff do police the ads for appropriateness and policy compliance, However,
with more that 2 million new ads each day worldwide, it would go against the
purpose of eBay and would be impossible to review each one before it appears.
Rather, eBay, and its users have a reporting system that they say works well.
The safeguard is not 100 percent effective but given the volume (2 million new
ads per day) it is very effective prevention and accountability. To enter an ad
on eBay the user must enter their contact information including credit card
numbers, emails, phone number, etc.
Most infractions are not intentional or minor violations of eBay policies. They
are often reminded via email and only serious infractions of intent to defraud
and misrepresent themselves and eBay result in legal action. He added that eBay
will cooperate fully with law enforcement when laws are broken, and that it is
up to the legal team to determine the course of action in the trafficking ad.
There are more that 20 million annual eBay members who move $23.8 billion in
goods and services and reaches 28 international markets.
Original link: (http://www.aapress.com/webmar12/n-ebay.htm)
