eBay Main Street

Last week, eBay Inc’s Global Privacy Counsel, Scott Shipman addressed the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Australia and New Zealand Privacy Summit. eBay is a proud member of IAPP globally. The topic “Privacy and the C-Suite” focused on the relationship between the Privacy officer and senior executives within an organisation including the CIO, COO, CFO and CEO.

"Counterfeits are unwanted on our platform and we will not hesitate to take action against counterfeiters. Currently, verified rights owners of our VeRO program are able to get a seller removed and restricted for listing infringed items, but if Rights Owners are willing to work with us, together we can combat the sales of counterfeits on our platforms more effectively.” declared Tang Lei, Head of Cross Border Trade Government Relations.

' “Counterfeits are unwanted on our platform and we will not hesitate to take action against counterfeiters. Currently, verified rights owners of our VeRO program are able to get a seller removed and restricted for listing infringed items, but if Rights Owners are willing to work with us, together we can combat the sales of counterfeits on our platforms more effectively.” declared Tang Lei, Head of Cross Border Trade Government Relations.'

eBay Inc.'s Tod Cohen, retailers and state legislators testified Wednesday regarding legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes for online purchases. Much of the hearing centered on the Supreme Court\'s 1992 Quill Corporation vs. North Dakota ruling that retailers with no physical presence in a state did not have to collect sales taxes for that state. Cohen advocated for a robust exemption from sales tax collection and remittance requirements on behalf of the thousands of small business retailers that use the eBay platform.

Tod Cohen, eBay Inc. Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, testified this morning before the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. In his remarks, Cohen outlined Constitutional limitations on U.S. states\' authority to collect sales taxes in e-commerce. Read Cohen’s congressional testimony. Referenced in today’s hearing was also a position paper by Paul Clement, partner at Bancroft PLLC and former Solicitor General of the United States. Clement’s position paper on the “Streamlined Sales Tax” legislation cites numerous constitutional concerns surrounding the proposed bills. Read Clement’s position paper.

PayPal Australia is partnering with the Australian Federal Police to ensure that Australian shoppers remain cautious and safe when shopping online this holiday season. Estimates show that the country will spend over $30.2 billion online by the end of 2011. “This Christmas, Australians will be taking advantage of the huge range of unique gift ideas on offer, not only from well-known Aussie brands, but also from thousands of smaller boutique-style retailers,” PayPal Australia Director of Strategy Andrew Rechtman said. “Over 4 million online shoppers now use PayPal, allowing them to shop without sharing their personal financial information.”

A report released this month by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found eBay Australia’s most popular online retailer.
The report titled E-Commerce Marketplace in Australia: Online Shopping, showed eBay attracted the largest audience, reaching 4.3 million people during June 2011 compared to 1.6 people visiting Amazon’s website and 1.4 million Australian visiting the website of Woolworths.

“Some in Congress have revived calls to force electronic retailers to collect sales taxes. Electronic retailers already collect sales taxes in states where they have a "physical presence," and states may collect a tax from taxpayers for online transactions if out-of-state retailers do not. But because states rarely enforce collection of this tax from individual taxpayers, big-box stores and state revenue officials are left frustrated. However, this frustration is an insufficient reason to impose unreasonable burdens on interstate commerce….” Continue reading…

From all of us at the eBay Inc. Government Relations team, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

eBay recently hosted an Oversight Hearing of the California State Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media. Assemblymembers Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) joined Committee Chair Assemblymember Nora Campos for a hearing on "How State Activities Can Impact the Business Climate of the High Technology Economy." David London, Senior Director, U.S. State Government Relations for eBay Inc. provided opening remarks and introduced the Chair.