MS eBay auction hypocrisy?

Guilty until proven innocent

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Letters, 9th March 2001 17:46 GMT

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Secondhand Office 97 seller to sue after MS pulls eBay auction

As ever, our readers had a few pertinent points to make regarding Linda Harrison's recent piece. Chris Curran kicks off with:

Re: "Sellers who query auctions being taken down have to prove to Microsoft that the software is genuine - this could either be by providing a serial number or proof of purchase. "

It seems hypocritical for MS to be playing the "guilty until proven innocent" card...

Quite right. John Olsen adds:

Shouldn't it be up to Microsoft to prove that the software is not genuine?

You'd think so. Bill Buckley thinks that there are more serious implications for Microsoft:

If Microsoft gave Ebay a sworn statement saying that this material violates their copyright and it is standard policy for Microsoft to treat all like cases this way, wouldn't you think Microsoft would be leaving itself wide open for a class action lawsuit for libel. They admit that this is normal procedure. I would sue their butts off.

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