"Thursday 17th January 2002 5:10pm
German authorities swoop on eBay Nazis
Clean it up, auction site told...
eBay has come under fire from authorities for allowing racist memorabilia to be auctioned on its German website.
Officials from Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution visited eBay's Berlin offices to advise them on how to stop the illegal neo-Nazi items from appearing on the site.
Under German law it is illegal to spread neo-Nazi propaganda or encourage anti-Semitic sentiment.
A spokesman for the Interior Minister said eBay was the victim of abuse by extreme right supporters who operate anonymously on the site.
He said it was eBay's responsibility to keep the content of its site clean.
However, eBay said it had deleted all the offending items from auction following the visit by authorities.
eBay is not the first service provider to fall foul of the law over Nazi memorabilia. Yahoo France found itself in court last year for selling similar content.
A French judge ruled the US site had to find a way to prevent users from selling the propaganda. But this ruling was overturned by a US judge who claimed Yahoo was an American company and thereby subject only to US not European law.
For related news, see:
Yahoo! Nazi ruling ignores French law
www.silicon.com/a49006
eBay's international quest
www.silicon.com/a50463
Bunch of Fives: The internet wife saga
www.silicon.com/a50282
Bunch of Fives: 5 weird auction stories
www.silicon.com/a49977
