Must page 67, 12-14 ed.

FRENCH AUCTION WATCHDOG AGENCY TAKES EBAY’S FRENCH SITE TO COURT

AVV 12-5 #721502

PARIS (AP) — France’s auction watchdog is taking eBay to court, arguing that the Internet auctioneer doesn’t do enough to protect consumers.

The French regulatory authority, called the Council of Sales, said that eBay’s French site should be held to the same standards as other auction houses in France — which must acquire a special permit from authorities that includes guarantees of consumer protection.

In a statement, eBay’s French branch, eBay.fr, said the suit was “totally unjust.’’

It said, “eBay has invented a new way of buying and selling, which has been adopted by 10 million French people, and which is not at all the same as that of auction houses.’’

The Council of Sales, whose members are state-appointed, said it was not trying to crack down on online auctions, and that it encouraged them. But it said it had been studying eBay.fr carefully since 2003 and had compiled a long list of problems.

In one case, it said, a buyer who expected to purchase an Eighteenth Century painting actually received a piece of wood with a photocopy pasted onto it. Fakes are a big problem on eBay.fr, it said, especially with African and Chinese art. In other cases, sellers never send the object to the buyer, it said.

Last month, the Council of Sales took similar action against an online car auction site called Carsat.