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Ohio Wants eBayers to Post $50k Bond
MacDork writes "CNNMoney posted a short article this morning about new Ohio regulations set to become effective May 2 this year. If you are in the state and selling on eBay, you will need to pay $200 for a license and post a $50,000 bond or face possible fines and jail time. Getting the license also requires a one-year apprenticeship. When asked to which eBay users this bill applied, the bill's author, Larry Mumper responded with these very specific guidelines.... "It certainly will not apply to the casual seller on eBay, but might apply to anyone who sells a lot.""
is also the jerk who is responsible for the so called "Academic Bill or Rights" and has called college professors communists. What a jerk.
IANAL but isn't one of ICC's or FTC's jobs to see that there is not, in effect, tariffs imposed in one state blocking commerce from another state? That parity of states in matters of commerce was a problem facing the nation when the constitution was drawn up. This proposed legislation seems to come rather close, in its effect if not its intention, to a unilateral barrier to trade imposed by one state on commerce that may go on between states.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
They're not expecting most average sellers to, but rather hoping that people like you who don't even RTFS (Summary), let alone legislation, will pay up and make them some free money.
And in the interest of high standards, it's rIdiculous. That has to be one of the most mispelt words on Slashdot.
Free Gamer - Free games list and commentary
Fucking Christ on a snack cracker, people. Maybe you fuckers should learn to spell shit right instead of making yourselves look 'rediculous' [sic]...
Governments so often believe they can wave a piece of paper and behavior stops. Just like gun control, this will never stop a scammer but will punish the honest.
No, Governments (read: elected officials) believe doing this will get them reelected. It seems to work...
I don't think, Therefore I'm not.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/f-agreement.html #3
Frequently Asked Questions about the User Agreement:
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How do I report a potentially illegal, infringing or fraudulent item?
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(e.g., what is a Reserve Price Auction?)
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What does "eBay is only a venue" mean?
A. eBay is an exciting electronic marketplace where you can buy and sell to your heart's content. However, eBay does not ultimately participate in the transaction between buyer and seller, verify that items are genuine, or guarantee that you will receive payment or auction items. eBay is very concerned about your safety and offers the services of third parties that can provide authentication, insurance, and escrow for your transactions.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Not exactly.
With a traditional auction, the auction house does some verification of the merchandise, and the items are in the control of the auctioneer, not the original owner. On eBay, it's much more like the individual sellers are running their own auctions with eBay simply providing technical services.
So it is different.
As to how the law sees it, that may be several different matters.
Read the article:
In other words, the lawmakers are NOT attempting to target eBay/eBay users with this law. The law is there only to make sure auctioneers are obeying other Ohio laws regarding auctions. eBay already attempts to enforce the law by shutting down illegal auctions or whatever, so it is VERY unlikely that Ohio lawmakers will need to empose this law onto eBay sellers.
Would this law make it illegal to have an auctioneer auction off some of your property for you? NO! This would only affect someone acting as an auctioneer.
It will, however, be interesting to see if they try to apply this law to ebay, as they (their software) does act as an auctioneer. A $50,000 bond would be a drop in the bucket for ebay, but I'm not sure if the $200 is per auction or a one-time fee for the license.... That could be interesting.
- Think for yourself, question authority.-
While the sellers might be in Ohio, anyone in the whole wide world can purchase their items, right? Perhaps even someone in another state?
A little while ago there was a supreme court case by the name of Gibbons v. Ogden. Aaron Ogden had filed suit in New York against Thomas Gibbons for operating a rival steamboat service between New York and New Jersey ports. Ogden had exclusive rights to operate steamboats in New York under a state law, while Gibbons held a federal license. Gibbons lost the case and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the decision. The Court held that the New York law was unconstitutional, since the power to regulate interstate commerce, which extended to the regulation of navigation, belonged exclusively to Congress.
Now, you can see how Ohio issuing "ebay licenses" is quite similar to New York issuing steamboat licenses. While the commerce does take place in their state, it also crosses state lines, and is therefore interstate commerce.
-py
-py
Furthermore, there is a forum spellchecker available for free for Mozilla and Firefox. Use it for your next Slashdot post, or at least for the subject of your next Slashdot post.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
I live in Ohio and this was covered on local NPR or some other newsource a few days ago. As written, it can be interpreted to apply to casual sellers on Ebay. But the authors state that it is not the intent, and that it will be modified to exclude casual sellers before it goes into affect.
Whereas you are the bastion of sanity? I don't know what you were reading, but it was logical to me. Maybe you just don't know what logic is?
Or just maybe you were trying to put down something that you don't agree with but aren't smart enough to retort or even research a bit?
Before anyone gets the "bright" idea that I'm a troll or something, I live in Ohio, where this bill is. Legislators have already said that the eBay thing was an unintended side-effect and would be fixed before it became law.
NO ONE SEEMS TO GET THAT POINT! IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! The ones that are trying to explain why you will have to pay 50 grand are the ones who didn't want it to pass in the first place. It's like taking a Republican at his word on what a Democrat-sponsored bill would do. IT'S POLITICAL BULLSHIT & DICK-WAVING.
Nope. What surprised everyone is that it was pointed out that anyone using eBay could be considered an auctioneer. eBay is just providing the soapbox - you're the one doing the auction.
Envy my 5 digit Slashdot User ID!
FTFA:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the law, signed by Gov. Robert Taft on Feb. 1
This
Nothing to see here, please move a long...
What, me worry?
I have somehow found myself stuck in this godforsaken swing state and am subject to the inaninties of Ohio's brand of Midwestern legislating. That said, I still vote and I pay taxes.
Not 5 minutes ago, I phoned Senator Mumper's office to let him know that I am EXTREMELY displeased with this piece of legislation. The person on the other end informed me that changes to Senate Bill 209 were being introduced today (Tuesday, 8 March), but I continued to explain the reason for my feelngs.
My two objections were that 1) this legislation on the face of it appears to conflict with Congress's Interstate Commerce Clause which prohibits states from enacting legislation that will impede commerce between the states, and 2) the software on eBay is what does the auctioning, not the seller, and so the seller is in fact a client of an auctioneer, not an auctioneer him or herself.
I also provided the receptioninst with my name, address, and phone number, and indicated that I will be writing a carrier mail letter to express my EXTREME DISPLEASURE with Senator Mumper's role in authoring this legislation.
Oh, and if you came to this post because of its subject line, here you go:
blog
They're simply requiring people to register and license their BUSINESS. This is a normal practice for all states. Nothing new to see here. Move on.
I disagree. According to Merriam-Webster;
Main Entry: auctioneer
Pronunciation: "ok-sh&-'nir
Function: noun
: an agent who sells goods at auction
That seems to me that if you sell stuff on eBay, you are an auctioneer.
Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. -Ayn Rand
Under Sec. 4707.01. in reads (in part):
Under Sec. 4707.02. it reads (in part):
Now, IANAL, but to me this says that Ebay need to be licensed and to post the bond, not the seller. The seller is contracting Ebay's services as an auctioneer.
Regarding the Swiss... isn't this because pretty much every male in the country is part of the national defence force and is required to have a rifle and ammunition at home?
If you are Swiss you have had a lot of training in using your weapon. Unlike the US where guns seem to end up as toys for shooting at beer cans when you get drunk in the trailor park. Which points to an easy solution for the whole gun issue. The US does the same thing the Swiss has done. Bring back the draft and have everybody spend a year in the army. After that they can have all the guns they want.
People couldn't type. We realized: Death would eventually take care of this.
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=12 5_SB_209
Sec. 4707.02. No person shall act as an auction firm, auctioneer, apprentice auctioneer, or special auctioneer within this state without a license issued by the department of agriculture. No auction shall be conducted in this state except by an auctioneer licensed by the department.
I'm Swiss and you are wrong on the second account of your argument. The first part might be right. Because every male citizen automatically serves in the military and all them need to have their gun and ammo at home. So because of that we got a lot of guns per household.
The second argument is wrong, because if you open up the ammo-can without an order, you go straight to jail. The gun and the ammunition can only be used in case of war. I can't be used as you deem necessary.
Still sometimes someone gets insane grabs his gun threatens to kill his family and himself. Thankfully, this happens very rarly. Thankfully most parents hide their guns and ammo well and in a separate place, so I can't remember when an accident with kids finding this stuff and hurting themself happend.
Still, we are discussing, if we really need the risks involved having a gun at home.
The point of this was to regulate auctioneers. An unintended effect was that due to broad wording, any auction including online ones are subject to the regulation. This sort of things happens everywhere.
The legislature surely was not intending to try and push this on someone who sells something once a year online. It is like requiring a business license to hold a yard sale.
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
It was an oversight when the law was written and will be amended.
http://www.nbc4i.com/print/4253028/detail.html
And for the lazy...
Although, take note of the last sentence.
A law that tons of people technicly break, but the government says it "never intended to enforce" or "wasn't meant for these kind of people". Ok, great, if that's the case, modify the law such that they aren't covered.
The thing is, with vague laws like this, it's ripe for abuse. If someone in the government who can sway the DA gets mad at you, they can bring it selectively down on your head. For example let's say you are protesting some corrupt politician and they get mad, so they get the police to arrest you, and they tell the DA to give you a tough time. Little investigation turns out that you regularly sell things on eBay, just little trinkets and shit, but still. They then charge you with violating this law.
No laws need to be clear, and consistently enforced. None of this "Don't worry about breaking the law, it wasn't meant to apply to YOU" shit, because that's just an excuse for abuse. If they want the law to apply to real auctioneers, it needs to be written as such. If they want it to apply to eBay, they need to make that clear, and enforce it in all cases.
They also get training and their ammunition is *closely* monitored. If even a single round is missing, they'll get in trouble.
Still want to pretend this is less restrictive than the US?
To my knowledge, it is extremely illegal to sell heroin in the Netherlands, where Amsterdam is the most important city. Perhaps you are confusing heroin with marijuana, which makes you an honorary Republican.
It is possible to get a license to sell marijuana in Amsterdam. It's a long and painstaking process. Marijuana gets sold in small outlets called 'coffeeshops' (English word) and coffee gets sold in a 'koffiehuis' (Dutch word). Sex shops are sometimes openly advertised as 'Fuck Houses' (public display of vulgar words in foreign languages is frowned on, but not illegal).
Some psycedelics like peyote and other sensitive drugs like organic Viagra (yohimbe) or intelligence-enhancers can be bought legally at 'Smart Shops'.
Nowhere in the Netherlands can a person just walk off the street and buy highly addictive drugs like crack cocaine, crystal meth, or heroin. There MAY be government programs to provide heroin to addicts under controlled conditions and monitoring, but no one legally sells it in licensed shops.
Thank you,