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ebaY User Agreement 2002 |
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ebaY is changing the User Agreement. Announced at 12:12:08 PT on 25 Feb 02 ebaY is changing their user agreement and privacy policy. For changes to User Agreement go to-
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/uarevision2-faq.html
To see the revised User Agreement go to -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-user2.html
For more information go to -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/f-agreement2.html
ebaY has also changed the Privacy Policy. For more info go to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/pprevision2-faq.html#4
To see the revised Privacy Policy go to -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-priv2.html
This agreement is effective on 19 Apr 02 at 00:00 PT for all users registered prior to 19 Mar 02. It is effective for all new users who register on or after 19 Mar 02. If you do not wish to accept the revised User Agreement once it is effective (on April 19th, 2002), you can cancel your ebaY registration by emailing decline@ebay.com. If you have any current listings when you do this, these will continue normally. However, you will not be able to access any service or feature that requires you to enter a password once your cancellation request is processed.
User Agreement In detail -
ebaY has erroneously numbered the User agreement sections, we notified them of the error. The numbers here are correct as the new agreement is presented, and should reflect ebaY's when they fix their typos.
First paragraph is changed to include Half.Com and ebaY stores. What was one paragraph is now said in four paragraphs, but primarily says the same thing.
1. Membership Eligibility - Added is - . "If you are a minor, you can use this service only in conjunction with your parents or guardians." And "If you are registering as a business entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind the entity to this Agreement." No other changes
2. Fees and Services - No Change
3. ebaY is a Venue (was ebaY is Only a Venue)
3.1 eBay is not an Auctioneer. (added) otherwise says the same thing
3.2 NEW - Fixed Price Marketplace. Talks about Half.com, a venue that allows users to find and purchase items from other users at a fixed price. Specific terms and conditions at
http://half.ebay.com/help/index.cfm?helpsection=halfpolicy.
3.3 NEW - Identity Verification. Basically says the same thing as the old para 3.2 Safe Trading.
3.4 Release - same as old Release para 3.3
3.5 Information Control same as old Information Control 3.4
4. Bidding and Buying is same as old section with the addition of "or when the seller does not confirm your purchase in the Half.com area of our services" to show when a bid is not binding on the buyer.
5. Listing and Selling
5.1 Listing Description - added "Except for our fixed price format" to the part about multiple items.
5.2 Binding Bids - no change
5.3 Fraud - no change
5.4 VeRO - no change other than revised privacy policy at
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-priv2.html
5.5 Manipulation - no change
6. Your Information
6.1 Definition - no change
6.2 Resticted Activities (was Restrictions) - added to your information "and your activities on the site shall not:" no other changes, clause that allows linking to websites etc still exists though ebaY claims this is a violation of their user agreement.
6.3 License - no change - ebaY's FAQ specifically states this is so ebaY can host your information on the site and does not allow ebaY to sell this information, which would make it difficult for ebaY to sell specific closed auction information. This clause is the one to watch, for a change that would allow that sale of closed auction information. ebaY can sell that completed auction info in aggregate under the current agreement.
7. Access and Interference - no change - the ebaY faq specifically allows the discussion of ebaY on other websites and chat boards and says this clause is only aimed at prohibiting the copying of listing descriptions and images without permission of the seller who owns them.
8. Feedback
8.1 Integrity - new title - changed "you will be suspended" and "you will be unable to list or bid" to "you may be suspended" and "you may be unable to list or bid"
8.2 Export same as old 8.1 - no change
8.3 Import same as old 8.2 - added "(non-eBay operated)" to cover Half.Com. no other change.
9. Breach - changed to add "remove your item listings" and added "may cause financial loss". So it now reads, " Without limiting other remedies, we may immediately remove your item listings, warn our community of your actions, issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if: (a) you breach this Agreement or the documents it incorporates by reference; (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us." This adds a whole new dimension to violations, and could provide the justification for ebaY to suspend ANY user who criticizes ebaY in an auction or on the ebaY boards. This could also allow ebaY to claim a breach for an auction that offers a
third party payment service in competition with ebaY, and that covers a wide area. ebaY needs to specifically clarify EXACTLY what they are trying to cover with this clause as they have in the past with section 7.
10. Privacy - changed. This now reads, "We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes without your consent and we only use your information as described in the Privacy Policy. We view protection of users' privacy as a very important community principle. We understand clearly that you and your information is one of our most important assets. We store and process your information on computers located in the United States that are protected by physical as well as technological security devices. We use third parties to verify and certify our privacy principles. Our current Privacy Policy is available (at http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-priv.html). If you object to your Information being transferred or used in this way please do not use our services. " Unfortunately ebaY has their own definition of what "sell or rent" means different from common understanding.
11. No Warranty - changed to read "WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES AND OUR SUPPLIERS PROVIDE OUR WEB SITE AND SERVICES "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES AND OUR SUPPLIERS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. Some states do not
allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal rights that vary from state to state." Basically the same but expanded to cover more bases.
12. Liability Limit - added " subsidiaries, employees" to expand coverage, no other changes.
13. Indemnity - no change
14. Legal Compliance - no change
15. No Agency - no change
16. Notices - no change
17. Arbitration - no change
18. Additional Terms - this has changed and now reads - "The following policies are incorporated into this Agreement by reference and provide additional terms and conditions related to specific services offered on our site:
Privacy Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-priv.html,
Outage Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-extn.html,
Board Usage Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-board.html,
Non-Binding Bid Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-nbb.html,
Listing Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html,
Half.com Policy:
http://www.half.com/help/index.cfm?helpsection=halfpolicy,
SafeHarbor Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/investigates.html,
Prohibited, Questionable & Infringing Item Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html,
Real Estate Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-estate.html,
and the Non-Paying Bidder Policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/npb.html.
Each of these policies may be changed from time to time and are effective immediately after we post the changes on our site, except for the Privacy Policy for which we will provide you with thirty days prior notice. In addition, when using particular services on our site, you agree that you are subject to any posted policies or rules applicable to services you use through our site, which may be posted from time to time. All such posted policies or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into this Agreement."
This allows ebaY to change any of these policies at any time without prior notice, privacy policy accepted. This also allows
ebaY to post a policy anywhere at anytime, even on a scrolling board, and it is automatically incorporated in the user agreement, without any notice. This is beyond unreasonable.
19. General - no change, even though the section numbers will need to be changed to reflect the corrected section numbers
20. Disclosures - no change
TAG has a copy of the old User Agreement archived 13 Feb 02 for record, in forethought of the inferred upcoming changes due to the partial merger of Half.Com. If you would like a copy of the old agreement email tag@theauctionguild.com . The way this agreement is now written, sections 9 and 18 allow ebaY to do anything they want at any time without any notice, therefore making this User Agreement worthless. An agreement is
supposed to be between two parties, and it is now completely one sided. ebaY only allows one party to this agreement, themselves. TAG hopes ebaY provides specific clarification of clauses 9 and 18 limited what is now so broad it obviates this as a contract and takes it to the level of farce. ebaY HAS provided limiting clarification in the past and we hope they do so in this case also.
