REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW:
In the legal conflict between E-Bay and Bidder's Edge two
competing views of the internet are involved and not just the two
companies in the dispute. One view looks at information on the internet
or that is internet accessable as public information by virtue of its
presence there and open for any and all to exploit. This is the Bidder's
Edge position in this dispute. E-Bay contends that the need for Bidder's
Edge to use spidering to get into E-Bay computers to get at E-Bay auction
information constitutes trespass and must be ruled illegal. This case,
therefore, may have a major impact on rights and limits of access to
information on the internet in much more general terms than E-Bay auction
data and information.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584
jwne@astro.temple.edu
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Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: CARL S. KAPLAN
Title: Auction Dispute Centers on Question of Control Over Data
Source Date:April 14, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: E-Bay, Bidder's Edge, Lawsuit, Countersuit,
Information Access, Computer System, Trespass,
Public Information, Internet/WWW, Competing Viewpoints
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
(Free Registration Required by the New York Times)
April 14, 2000
By CARL S. KAPLAN
Auction Dispute Centers on Question of
Control Over Data
A dispute that raises important questions about property rights on the
Internet will take a step toward resolution on Friday, when lawyers for
the auction giant eBay and a Web site called Bidder's Edge enter a federal
district court to debate the merits of a practice known as "spidering."
Bidder's Edge is one of a handful of so-called auction aggregators --
Web services that permit visitors to search for items that are up for bid
at several auction sites simultaneously. To compile its auction listings,
Bidder's Edge uses a software robot or "spider" that periodically makes
its way through the eBay site and others to extract information. The
accumulated data, which is not copyrighted, is placed in a Bidder's Edge
database so that site visitors can search it quickly.
Last December, eBay, which is based in San Jose, Calif., sued Bidder's
Edge, saying that the spidering amounted to an unauthorized trespass of
its computer system. In addition, the company said that the auction
listings compiled by the spider and posted on the Bidder's Edge Web site
were incomplete and misleading, and thus harmed eBay's business. EBay also
said that by placing ads on its search pages, Bidder's Edge was unfairly
profiting from eBay's business.
Bidder's Edge, based in Burlington, Mass., has denied all the claims.
It also countersued eBay, saying that the company engaged in wrongful
monopolistic practices, among other things.
Web Sites Related to This Article:
eBay
http://www.ebay.com/
Bidder's Edge
http://www.biddersedge.com/home.jsp
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