AfterDawn: News

eBay removes Live 8 DVD auctions

Online auction giant eBay has been busy removing counterfeit Live 8 DVDs from its website. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) asked eBay to be tough on the pirates that were selling unauthorised copies of the event on the website attempting to make money off a poverty awareness concert. This is not the first time eBay has gotten headaches from Live 8; before the event Bob Geldof got furious when he discovered that tickets for the event were on sale on eBay. He then asked people to boycott the site.

"There are too many people out there who believe music is for stealing, regardless of the wishes of artists and the people who invest in them. Sadly we are not at all surprised by this incident." said BPI anti-piracy head David Martin. eBay was quick to remove the DVD auctions as the site does not allow it's users to sell such content. "The unauthorised copies of Live 8 DVDs we have been told about have been taken down because the sale of fake items is not permitted on eBay.co.uk." the company said.



As well as the DVDs and the ticket sales in the past, there are also auctions for ticket stubs, programmes and concert passes handed out by AOL. "We distributed these lanyards to concert-goers as free souvenirs of an amazing event, so it is highly inappropriate if people choose to sell them." a spokesman for AOL said.

Source:
The Register

Written by: James Delahunty @ 5 Jul 2005 12:27

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• 7 comments

• spooky2k

  first part of article: i agree, as a DVD will be released and money from that DVD go to charity.
  The AOL part: Greedy asses. if you GIVE someone something to OWN, whether a gift or not, what they decide to do with it is absolutely NOTHING to do with you.
  
  Dan x

  5.7.2005 13:09 #1

• nohelpme

  dumb ebay....

  5.7.2005 15:01 #2

• mikeyk

  Get a life AOL.

  5.7.2005 21:36 #3

• Rosco404

  How can Boby blame ebay?? Telling people to boycott the site? It aint ebay's fault for other peoples actions, ebay can only remove items asap when reported...

  6.7.2005 01:51 #4

• rocky999

  Ebay has gotten very bad about this type of stuff lately. I see people selling bootleg dvds all the time on ebay and ebay lets them. Remember, even if it's illegal to sell, ebay still gets their commission. And that is what it is all about.

  6.7.2005 06:40 #5

• Qualitee

  Ebay will think nothing of letting cheats and scammers get away with almost anything. As long as they have money coming in from where ever they care little for the individual. The only reason they have taken this latest action is because it represents wide public interest.
  I have 240 faultless feedbacks on Ebay and not once have they listened to me as a single person complaining about a dealer who is consistently ripping off individuals.

  12.7.2005 06:36 #6

• mlujan

  Food for thought:
  
  If it wasn't for a bootlegger in the UK that transferred his old VHS tapes to DVD and selling the 12 DVD set on e-Bay back in July of 2004, Bob Geldof would probably not been inspired to release the Live Aid DVD set in November 2004. In fact it probably wouldn’t have even registered on his radar, but people were paying $200 for this set.
  
  If it wasn't for the success of that set, Bob Geldof probably wouldn't have considered another set of concerts for July 2005.
  
  Do people have the right to copy musicians’ material and sell it? NO.
  
  Does it sometimes spur on releases of items that might have been left in the vault? USUALLY
  
  Is e-Bay a fence for illegitimate items? ABSOLUTELY.
  
  Should e-Bay be held responsible for allowing people to list unauthorized items? I guess you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of that….
  
  I found some great details about the live 8 event at thelive8concert.com - at least worth the look

  3.9.2005 17:40 #7