News: Nobody Move. eBay Lost a Contact Lens.
September 29th, 2005 by Laurie BarakSource: TechDirt
Okay, obviously, misusing a contact lens can do some amount of damage, but doesn’t it seem like a bit of overkill to only let doctors sell them? Some US states have banned online contact lens selling, as well — but it is apparently completely illegal in the United Kingdom.
However, people still try to sell contact lenses online in the UK, and they often use eBay…so now eBay is facing a lawsuit and large fines for allowing contact lens sales to continue. No matter how you feel about people buying and selling contact lenses online, you have to wonder why this is an issue that eBay would get in trouble for. It’s not eBay doing the selling. They’re just the platform provider. If the courts want to go after the Sellers, that could be a different story, but going after eBay itself is misguided.
