Judge Advances EBay Antitrust Class Action
Judge Advances EBay Antitrust Class Action
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A federal judge refused to dismiss most of a class action that claims eBay monopolized the market for payment systems used in online auctions.
The auction site allegedly raised fees and shut out payment-system competitors after acquiring PayPal in 2002.
The class claimed eBay has made PayPal the only viable option for sellers, and therefore sellers have to pay fees to eBay both for listing and selling their products and for using PayPal.
EBay's accepted payment policy prohibits sellers from asking buyers to contact them for additional payment methods or from asking buyers to use a method a seller did not include in their listing, according to the class. If it believes a seller violates the policy, eBay removes seller's listings.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/06/42837.htm
