Beware of conversations with users of TOM-skype

The Information Warfare Monitor has published damning evidence of a series of worrying acts related to TOM-skype (the Chinese version of Skype) which are taking place in China. The evidence shows that TOM-skype blocks keywords from chat conversations and more worryingly spies on (and reports!!) the contents of the messages passing between Skype users. The evidence gathered, so far, indicates that 'extensive surveillane' is taking place with 'little regard' to the privacy and security of Skype users.

TOM-skype is a joint venture between eBay and the Chinese company TOM-Online. Skype denies any knowledge of and involvement in TOM-skype's additions but it has aware of the censorship features introduced by TOM-skype.

Now this is not only a concern for skype users in China but also for any other skype user who engages a conversation with a skype user in China.

CyberPanda agrees with the EFF that Skype and Ebay have to take decisive actions to put an end to such activities. In particular, Skype has a marked responsiblity towards all its users and can not evade liability by flashing the 'We did not know it' card. Finally, it should be determined to what extent the concerned parties (Skype, TOM online and eBay) have been actively backing this extensive level of surveillance.

Disclaimer: The logo used above belongs to Skype.

EBay`s great expectations.

EBay will be launching its new business strategy today which encourages fixed-price selling as opposed to its traditional aunction business model. It will introduce a lot of incentives to promote fixed-price selling including new fee structure, greater financial protection for buyers.

The aim of this new strategy is to attempt to turn EBay into a global shopping mall rather than its current status of global car boot sale. This new strategy has been launched in answer to the growing criticisms of its buyers and sellers in the wake of various lawsuits brought against EBay by various companies as LVMH. It is also an attempt to give EBay an added edge which will enable it to compete with the business models of its online competitors as Amazon and Tesco.

It remains to see whether this new business strategy will truly benefit the individual buyer or whether the current concerns that the corporate sellers will scoop most of the benefits will materialise themselves. These new changes also mean that EBay will be more fully protected against lawsuits by corporate giants but the question of how the sale of counterfeit products will be addressed remains to be seen.

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It looks like the luck of Ebay might just be changing!!

The long awaited ruling in the landmark trademark trial of Tiffany (NJ) Inc. and Tiffany and Company v. eBay Inc is here at last!

Yesterday the District Judge Sullivan of the US District Court, Southern District of New York, delivered the ruling in favour of eBay which will, no doubt, breathe a sigh of relief after the scathing rulings of the French Courts earlier in July in actions brought by LVMH and Hermes against eBay.

The first allegation by Tiffany was that eBay "actively advertised the availability of Tiffany merchandise" on its website and using sponsored links on Google and Yahoo!. The judge ruled that the only way a "Tiffany" product could be described by sellers was to use the brand "Tiffany."

The second argument of Tiffany was that eBay should be held liable for the sale of counterfeit Tiffany products on its website. Taking into account the fact that eBay acted promptly once it was notified of infrigements by Tiffany, the judge reject the theory of "infringement in the air" advanced by Tiffany.

In short, this judgment from the US clarifies that it is the job of the trademark owner to police its mark rather than the job of the platform.

This judgement will no doubt be welcomed by all the intermediaries and, in particular, eBay whose business models were very much threatened by the recent rulings in the French jurisdiction.