back to article eBay to cough up $3M after cyber-stalking couple who dared criticize the souk

eBay will pay $3 million to settle criminal charges that its security team stalked and harassed a Massachusetts couple in retaliation for their website's critical coverage of the online tat bazaar. Under a deferred prosecution agreement [PDF], eBay admits responsibility for the actions of six of its former employees, and a …

  1. gnasher729 Silver badge

    So I take it the three million go to the state and not to the victims?

    1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Fine mess

      That is our understanding, yes. It's a penalty resolved with the DoJ. The Steiners are seeking damages in a separate civil case.

      C.

    2. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Childcatcher

      To the state? To the victims?? Only $3m???

      Won't somebody think of the lawyers?

    3. Spazturtle Silver badge

      This was a criminal trial, so the state is the victim (as they are in all criminal trials). It was the state's laws that were broken, so the offence was against the state.

      It is the still ongoing civil trial where the Steiners are the victim.

      1. raving angry loony

        As I understand it, the criminal conviction will make it easier for the civil suit to succeed. Hopefully Ebay has to pay enough to make it hurt, because $3m isn't enough to make those monsters think twice next time.

  2. Roland6 Silver badge

    “ the $3 million, which is the statutory maximum for the six felony offenses”

    Surely the $3m is the maximum per offence, so as this was against two individuals that’s 12 separate offences?

    1. Joe W Silver badge

      Re: “ the $3 million, which is the statutory maximum for the six felony offenses”

      Nope, it was one offender - eBay - the others have been charged separately (from my understanding of reading the article). Also note that this was not the case that determines how much eBay has to cough up in damages to the Steiners, that one is still ongoing (last paragraph in the article, or thereabouts).

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: “ the $3 million, which is the statutory maximum for the six felony offenses”

        One offender but multiple offences and multiple victims…

  3. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Humanity

    These were supposedly respectable, educated, executives. High ranking etc. but they seem to have thought it OK to behave in a thuggish and criminal manner.

    It's hard to believe that this is purely an EBay thing.

    It sort of makes me despair of humanity.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In this country they’d get a fucking CBE or a knighthood. The US may be utterly insane when it comes to electing crazy old fucks to run their country, but now and then they do punish the rich twats for misbehaving.

    1. train_wreck

      Eh over here the rich usually only get nailed if they steal from other rich people. Screwing the poors is just good business. This case was different only because the conduct was SO egregiously harassment. Like crazy stalker level harassment.

    2. Lurko

      Well, we've seen how UK management get rewarded for malfeasance from the Horizon scandal - and of course, Adam Crozier on whose watch Horizon went wrong is living life high on the hog as chairman of BT plc. And nationally, such mis-use of the legal system continues, for example with the mis-use of the legal system to try and stifle public debate on noise issues caused by the rich and powerful using Farnborough airport:

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/03/farnborough-airports-biggest-critic-silenced-as-expansion-plans-continue

      And apart from that, the UK allows super-injunctions, that as a matter of course should not be allowable in any democratic society, but because they work for the rich and powerful continue to be used.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge
  5. train_wreck

    I was honestly shocked that the perps got jail time in the original case. Good to see eBay proper getting their just desserts.

    1. Lurko

      But as a corporation Ebay didn't suffer. $3m is chump change, half a day's profit after tax.

      1. Smirnov

        As it has been mentioned before, the $3M is only the criminal penalty. The ongoing civil lawsuit will most certainly involve much larger sums, likely of a size that even ebay will feel it.

    2. raving angry loony

      Ebay as a corporation hasn't been touched yet. I'll believe corporations are people when corporations spend time in jail instead of just being able to pay ONE day of "GAAP net income" as a so-called "penalty".

  6. pantsu

    AAAAA+++++ Would harass again

  7. rcxb Silver badge

    Proxy bid

    The fine was only supposed to be $1M, but someone bid it up at the last second... must have been bid sniping.

  8. PRR Silver badge
    Terminator

    There's decent corporate harassment, and then there is sick shit. ElReg should have re-run the pictures of the bloody pig mask (ugh), the fetal pig (yuck), and live cockroaches (gross and unhealthy). WTF??

    While eBay has not been punished (yet?)($3m is nothing to eBay), the personal jail-time *may* deter other sick executives from acting on their perverted fantasies.

  9. Ian Johnston Silver badge

    What's the point of harassment like this? The couple - as I understand it from the article - reported on multiple eCommerce sites, so it order to scare them off one the source of the yuckiness has to be made clear. Which makes things rather obvious for the cops, no?

    1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      In their story on this, the NYT included some quotes from internal eBay communications that were revealed at trial. The "chief communications officer" at eBay seems to have been particularly horrible. From the article:

      “Sometimes, you just need to make an example out of someone,” read a text that the chief communications officer sent to the senior vice president on May 31, 2019. “Justice,” the text continued. The chief communications officer then wrote, referring to Ms. Steiner: “We are too nice. She needs to be crushed.”

      That's the sound of a school bully grown in years but not maturity, and now in a position of influence. I don't think that sort of person can be fixed. They're inherently broken.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Free porn?

    EBAY SUX! EBAY BLOWS! EAT ME EBAY! My mailing address is...

    1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: Free porn?

      Ergh. I can only imagine what sort of dreadful 1970s-era porn eBay might have in its possession. I expect it's of more historical than prurient interest, and not much of the former at that.

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