A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes:

Solveig, I have been reading your posts on the "Got Milk?" tops. Great stuff.

Just wanted to email a comment on the issue with eBay policing theirauction listings * this comes up a lot in the copyright context as well. Ebay's policy is sort of like Google's w.r.t. book search: they're going to use it/sell it until the right holder steps forward and tells them not to. Personally, I think this is another example of a situation

where new tech companies are running roughshod over the rights of others. If the individual listings were commercially valuable, eBaycould potentially be secondarily liable, though I don't know of anyrightsholder who has stepped forward and sued over an individual auction listing of an infringing product, or a group of listings.

J.K. Rowling has posted about this quite a bit on her personal website (http://www.jkrowling.com * look back through her news archives at 1/31/05, 9/7/05 and 9/12/05). She has two main concerns. One sounds in
traditional copyright. People sell ebook versions of the Harry Potter novels on their own websites (e.g., http://www.harrybooks.info), ortrade them on P2P networks, in which case the work is clearly an
unauthorized reproduction. Rowling notes that her publisher and authorized distributors in various countries have never published an ebook version. She hasn't documented a specific instance of the sale of
an ebook on eBay, but I don't know why that couldn't happen.

Her other main concern sounds in trademark law, kind of like a fraud, or "passing-off" issue. People sell the Harry Potter books on eBay, but charge more than the face value of the book because it has supposedly
been autographed by Rowling. She knows for a fact that she hasn't signed this many books, and estimates that the vast majority of "authentic" autographed versions on eBay are actually frauds. Through
counsel she has contaced eBay many times, but they refuse to police their own auctions, saying they rely on consumers and rightholder to police the listings. She notes that this isn't effective as most HarryPotter fans are children, and unlikely to appreciate whether they are being had. She notes "reputable booksellers and auction houses takesteps to ensure that signatures are genuine BEFORE they put them up for sale. The current Ebay situation has Ebay profiting [eBay gets paid twice in most transactions: (1) a fee up front for the listing, and (2)
a percentage of the final sale price] from the Ebay users relentless scamming of Harry Potter fans, while, in effect, telling them that theyhave no-one but themselves--or me--to blame."