Dum De Dum Dum! eBay to Buy Back Historical Stolen Documents!
In what some might perceive as precedent setting, eBay is offering to purchase known stolen items from those eBay buyers who purchased them from the online auction site. The items include historical Civil War documents, and letters between Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt stolen by a New York State archivist and sold on eBay over a 2 year period. What makes this story interesting is, this is the first time I can recall that eBay is taking action for a third party whose stolen goods were sold on eBay. The auction site has always prided itself in stating it's "a venue that brings buyers and sellers together and bears no liability for items sold." New York State officials estimates that 200 items were stolen from their archives and sold on eBay over a 2 year period, amounting to $65,000.
Now a question for all eBay sellers- Why is eBay doing this? Did the State of New York twist someone's arm at eBay? Is this a "new" and "softer" eBay that is bearing some legal responsibility for stolen items sold thru the auction venue? As a long-time eBay seller this is the first time I have ever seen eBay react like this to stolen items being sold on the site. I wonder what the back story is!
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