# I ....guess this Ebay ad is legal ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498 "2002-03-22T05:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/1 "2002-03-22T05:20:40Z")
What fun! \*\*“LEGALLY _FIND - RUIN_ ANYONE W/O PRIVATE EYE!” \*\* [http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1714232389](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1714232389) How can Ebay allow an ad that promises to deliver information that will allow you to “ruin” someone? Is this covered under first amendment protections? ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/2 "2002-03-22T07:29:49Z")
Look at that seller’s feedback. Surprised they’re still registered. Re: legal ads: I saw a bootleg CD and just tracked it for the heck of it. It had a high bidder, but then the link became unavailable after the auction closed. I think ebay may have disallowed the sale. You could probably get more info. on this topic from the ebay community boards at [http://pages.ebay.com/community/chat/](http://pages.ebay.com/community/chat/) ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/3 "2002-03-22T09:23:01Z")
It’s not illegal to ruin someone, as long as you don’t commit any illegal acts in the process of ruining them. Not to mention the stuff on that CD is pretty much a zero in the illicit materials department. I took a class taught by a private detective where he showed us how to track down all the information listed on that auction, and it was sponsored by the local University. Not particularly shady business… basically you go to the library and ask the librarian for the relevant addresses and paperwork. The rest of it is a collection of software you can download yourself off the web for nothing… file encryption tools, Ad-Aware, file recovery software, etc. If you’re interested, here’s a [good place to start](http://home.att.net/~willowbrookemill/pricelessware.html). Maybe I should be auctioning off garbage like this, if he’s already got twenty bidders at 10 bucks a pop in less than a week. I do wonder if Lavasoft knows this outfit is including their software (Ad-Aware) on that CD. Maybe I’ll forward them the link. -fh ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/4 "2002-03-22T14:27:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Violet \* > \*\*Look at that seller’s feedback. Surprised they’re still registered. \*\* Their ratio of (+) to (-) feedback is 30-1. Why wouldn’t they still be registered? ---
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/5 "2002-03-22T14:45:14Z")
EBay has over 10,000 sales going at a time. They rely upon their customers to report things that are illegal. Tibs. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-ebay-ad-is-legal/99498/6 "2002-03-23T02:59:35Z")
**Tiburon** , I’ve seen this sometimes on ebay’s _front page_. I think they are pretty aware of what is being sold.