Ebay a "rat's nest" of fake goods

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 12 Dec 2007 at 09:35

Jewellery company Tiffany & Co has branded Ebay a "rat's nest" of counterfeit goods, in an angry outburst at the website's seeming reluctance to prevent the sale of fakes on its site.

Tiffany is suing Ebay in a US court, arguing that the online auction company doesn't do enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods, which it claims costs it around $30 billion a year in lost profits.

"At some point, Ebay had to have realised that counterfeiting was rampant," lawyers for Tiffany & Co wrote in a legal brief. "Indeed, it was a proverbial rat's nest."

Ebay, however, claims that in the fight against counterfeiting it's a "model citizen" and in complete compliance with current laws by removing fakes when notified by the rights owner.

The judge hearing the case, Richard Sullivan, is thought to be close to a ruling and a loss for Ebay could force the company to screen all items passing through the auction site, something it has warned would "wreak havoc", not only on its own business model but that of many other companies.

In a recent Pc Pro exclusive we revealed how fraud was rife on Ebay and how few police resources were being dedicated to the issue. Read more here.