<nettime> eBay Pulls WTO Riot Items

[Terrence J Kosick <kosick@sprint.ca>]

 EBay Pulls WTO Riot Items by Leander Kahney

12:10 p.m. 8.Dec.1999 PST EBay has removed most of the riot souvenirs on
sale by auction after last week's WTO clashes in Seattle.

Enterprising protestors and profit-making wannabes had been offering a
variety of riot memorabilia, including spent tear gas canisters, rubber
bullets, and broken police clubs, on the auction site. One collection of
items was being sold as a "tear gas fun pack."

However, late Tuesday eBay had removed many of the items, citing rules
about weapons sale and doubt about ownership of the items.

"These items are in violation of our user agreement and were removed," eBay
spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.

Pursglove said items like gas canisters, concussion grenades, and billy
clubs are considered weapons, whether they are spent or not. Additionally,
it's not clear that the items belong to the sellers or the Seattle police,
Pursglove said.

"These may be the official property of the police department," he said.
"The sellers have to be the rightful owner to sell an item on eBay."

The Seattle Police Department couldn't be reached for comment.

Some of the items had been on sale for almost a week and were pulled just
before a sale closed.

Adam Cohn, a student at the University of Washington, stood to gain about
US$80 from his "tear gas fun pack" before his auction was pulled.

"I'm disappointed but not angry," Cohn said. "I guess I knew it was coming.
They have these rules for a reason. It seems a reasonable rule."

Cohn said eBay had instructed him to get a certificate from the ATF if he
wanted to continue with the auction.

However, Cohn said he was more likely to switch auction sites or try to
sell the items privately to one of the bidders.

Cohn has created a news page detailing the items and the status of the sale.

Meanwhile, another eBay auctioneer is trying to sell a rock allegedly
thrown at the Seattle cops for US$1.

"This rock was thrown in anger," reads the auction page.

The rock hadn't attracted any bids by Wednesday morning.

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