Rick Buck, Head of Privacy for eBay-owned GSI, played a significant role in last week's Data Privacy Day. Click here to see Buck's remarks given at the Intersection of Privacy & Security event hosted by the National Cyber Security Alliance in Washington, DC. Buck, a panelist focused on industry best practices, was joined by representatives from Facebook, AT&T and Master Card. He shared eBay's position on privacy and data security and highlighted the company's numerous successes in the field.

This week eBay is proud to be an official sponsor of Data Privacy Day, an international collaboration between government officials, privacy advocates, and private industry to promote privacy awareness and education across the United States, Canada, Council of Europe member countries, and a host of other countries. This annual awareness initiative focuses on educating consumers and businesses alike about the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information.

Jim ?Griff? Griffith, eBay Inc.?s Senior Manager of Seller Development, served on a panel last month sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)?s Office of Rural Development to highlight how broadband Internet has brought economic development opportunities to rural America. Griffith described how rural small businesses that use eBay are taking advantage of the Internet and contributing to the economic growth of their communities.

Today the American Antitrust Institute published an opinion piece in the New York Times about their research into the restrictive ticketing practices of Ticketmaster and Veritix. The verdict?

"Restrictive paperless-ticket practices depart from bedrock market principles by unjustifiably limiting consumer choice and suppressing free competition. They also might violate federal and state antitrust and consumer-protection laws. And they may warrant legislation to protect the market and consumers."

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:28:16 +0000

David Napper, Asset Protection Manager - eBay Asia Pacific, addresses members of the security community at ?Security on the Move?, a road show series of informational security events in Sydney, Australia. Napper shares information about the various scams and fraud cases that have affected eBay in the Asia Pacific region and what the company is doing to ensure security for users.

eBay Inc. is dedicated to partnering with businesses and global law enforcement to stop piracy and counterfeits, but we oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) because these bills are riddled with troubling provisions that lead to increased litigation, as well as cybersecurity and censorship risks. Read the letter from members of the Internet industry (including eBay Inc.) to congressional leadership voicing opposition to the proposed legislation.

From ecommerceBytes.com: ?Consensus was in short supply here at the annual State of the Net conference, where representatives from eBay and Amazon squared off in a panel discussion concerning the contentious issue of online sales taxes.

Paul Jones, eBay Inc.'s global director of asset protection, has been named recipient of the Jewelers? Security Alliance (JSA)?s annual Industry Service Award. JSA is a trade association of jewelry manufacturers and retailers and a key partner in the fight to keep eBay?s platforms free of stolen goods. Each year, the Jewelers? Security Alliance presents its Industry Service Award to someone not in law enforcement who has made a significant impact on the security of the jewelry industry.

Numerous news outlets reported last week on a deal between the State of Indiana and Internet retailer Amazon.com. Amazon, who has a significant physical presence in the state, will begin collecting Indiana?s 7 percent sales tax from customers in 2014. eBay Inc. released the following statement in response to the news:

"Virtually all of Florida's largest business organizations are lobbying the Florida Legislature this session to make customers of online retailers pay a sales tax, same as Main Street's brick-and-mortar customers do. I know I've said it before, but here it is again: This is a spectacularly bad idea.

eBay?s Vice President of eBay Inc. Australia, Deborah Sharkey, has written an article for a newly launched magazine, Political Trends. The monthly magazine, launched last month, is aimed at Australian politicians, staffers and lobbyists operating in and around the nation's state and federal parliaments.

For years, people have written letters, sent faxes and placed phone calls to voice their opinions to legislators. But the volume and clutter have made it difficult to get through. As more and more members of Congress have adopted social media, several new channels have emerged to reach them. Here are our favorites:

The eBay Inc. Government Relations Team wishes you a very happy holiday season. While our website elves enjoy some time with their families, we invite you to grab a cup of eggnog and peruse our site to get up-to-speed on the issues we?ll be tackling in 2012 ? Internet Sales Tax, preservation of the event tickets secondary market, and more.

Last week the Productivity Commission released its report into the Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry. The Commission reported on: current structure, performance and efficiency of the retail sector; drivers of structural change in the retail industry; broader issues contributing to the increase in online purchasing by Australian consumers; sustainability and appropriateness of current indirect tax arrangements and the extent to which technology could reduce the administrative costs of tax collection; and other regulatory or policy issues which impa

Earlier this week, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it seeks to realign postal processing facilities across the country to address budget shortfalls. U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio is hosting a press conference this Friday, December 9, to raise concerns that potential facility closures would jeopardize thousands of jobs and could negatively impact mail delivery. The Congressman is a champion of small businesses that use eBay, and has cosponsorsed pro-small business policies like H.Res.

eBay Inc.?s Korean Government Relations team has been nominated for a prestigious 2011 PublicAffairsAsia Gold Standard Award. The Gold Standard Awards, which have become a well-known and respected part of the government affairs and public relations landscape, recognize companies? success in environmental, social and governance issues. eBay Government Relations (Korea) has been ?shortlisted? for the Gold Standard Award for Issues Management and Crisis Communications for its engagement in 2011 with the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC).

Minister for Privacy Brendan O'Connor and eBay's Scott Shipman

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 stressed the importance of this issue for small and medium-sized retailers across the U.S. and outlined Constitutional limitations on U.S. states' authority to collect sales taxes in e-commerce. Read Cohen?s congressional testimony.

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 consumers will spend over $30.2 billion online by the end of 2011.

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.

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.

TechAmerica Senior Vice President for Federal Government Affairs Kevin Richards released a statement last week in opposition to the latest string of Internet sales tax bills introduced this Congress. In his statement, Mr. Richards raised concerns about the impact of the legislation on our economy: ?There is a consistent movement to simplify government regulations but further regulating online businesses seems to be popular on Capitol Hill. Congress should be focusing on how to keep this recovery going - not trying to stifle it.

The following statement was released by Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), upon the introduction of latest Internet sales tax bill introduced by Senators Alexander (R-TN), Durbin (D-IL) and Enzi (R-WY): ?Imposing tax collection burdens on small Internet businesses, which are some of the most promising candidates for future economic growth, is unjustified, unfair and unwise.

Last week, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), released a statement expressing its disappointment in the introduction of yet another Internet sales tax bill that would unfairly disadvantage online retailers. ?This bill, in the best of economic times, is bad policy as it interferes with the free-flow of commerce among the states, a principle upon which the United States was founded,? said DMA.

On November 14th, The Wall Street Journal posted an article online highlighting both sides of the Internet sales tax debate currently heating up in Congress.

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting lower taxes and smaller government, released a statement in opposition to the introduction of the latest Internet sales tax bill introduced in the United States Senate yesterday morning. Pete Sepp, Executive Vice President of the NTU, expressed his concern for the new sales tax burdens this bill would place on small online businesses and worried that ?Americans on the receiving end of this legislation?s teeth will still feel serious pain?.