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"How is this any different than operating a casino?" Operating a casino requires a license for a start afaik, and there are checks to ensure things are fair.
by axod 18y ago
"How is this any different than operating a casino?"
Operating a casino requires a license for a start afaik, and there are checks to ensure things are fair.
How do we know the winning bidders actually exist?
I agree people should be able to make their own minds up in the main, but they should be doing that safe in the knowledge that they are being treated fairly.
- mattmaroon 18y agoIsn't that endemic to any auction site? eBay knows your max bid and could easily have bots forcing up the incremental bids to earn themselves more fees. Perhaps all auction sites should be audited, but I don't see how this one is any worse than the rest. And sadly the licensing requirements for online casinos are a joke. Read up on the Kahnawakee Gaming Commission some time, you'll get a kick out of it. Until we legalize and regulate them, they'll never improve.
- joeyo 18y agoThis is actually a really good point. Why does anyone entrust eBay with knowledge of their maximum bid? A hypothetical shill-bot 9000 could easily bid up auctions without ever having to worry about accidentally having to own the item. It seems like it would be far better to have your own bidbot handle things for you...
- mattmaroon 18y agoPeople have speculated about this on eBay from day 1. Personally I tend to believe its untrue only because they're a large company and certainly someone would have blown a whistle by now. The bot would have to be in-house to know people's maximum bids, and no individual employee would have incentive to create such a thing, so it would have to be a top-down directive.