3 ms·

Is eBay required to have their platform be used to sell items they do not want to be associated with? Your comment make me think of something else though: I wo

• phendrenad2 6y ago
  Well there are two different arguments here. One is that eBay is free to take down whatever they want. That's true. The other is that a publisher can request that something be taken down in the used market, which I think isn't true, ...maybe?
  • jasonpeacock 6y ago
    They can request anything they want, but nobody has to agree :) In this case, it appears that Ebay and Amazon agreed to the request.
  • hbrav 6y ago
    Correct - the publisher does not have the power to stop used copies of their books being resold, as per first sale doctrine. You can definitely still sell or buy used copies, although one of your most convenient markets (eBay). But that's eBay's decision, they have the right to decide that.
  • dTal 6y ago
    The elephant in the room is the contradiction between laissez-faire, libertarian free market capitalism where everyone is free to enter into contracts or decline to do so, and de-facto monopolies where essential functions of society are taken over by monoliths. "Consensual" collaborative actions by large market players have historically been heavily regulated. You're not typically allowed to telephone your biggest competitor and "politely request" that they double their prices, on the condition that you will do the same. That's because we recognize that there is simply a limited supply of competitors, and once a company gets big enough to throw its weight around it has a responsibility to be "fair".