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As of 17 June 2008 eBay Australia intends to implement a ruling that buyers will no longer be able to pay by bank transfer, cheque or money order and will be forced to use PayPal. Now for those that may not know, PayPal is owned by eBay and both eBay and PayPal charge separate fees. So eBay will receive two cuts of each seller’s profits. Firstly, is that not double charging? Secondly, does forcing this change breach the current Trade Practices Act? The answer to the first question is a resounding yes and line on the second is clearly being pushed to the very limit of the law. And to further cloud the issue, it is only eBay Australia in the eBay group that is pushing for this change; so far. Is the risk of fraud higher in Australia than other countries to warrant such action?


So how is this allowed to happen? Well although eBay Australia has announced on its site that these changes will be made, the truth is they have put forward a notification of intent to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) which has yet to be ruled upon. eBay has asked for immunity against legal action from the Trade Practices Act arguing that the public benefits of the move, which in their view would be increased transaction security, outweighs any negative effect to the public that might be caused by a lessening of competition in the online payments market. The act prohibits companies from imposing restrictions on people's freedom to choose whom they deal with.

Obviously it is a breach of the current act or they wouldn’t be asking for a ruling but the ACCC has the discretion to decide if this move is a fair response to online fraud. To complete their analysis the ACCC requested submissions by 2 May 2008 from any interested parties. This included a large number of responses, including but not limited to, an online petition which at the time of submission had 12,490 signatures and responses from major concerns such as American Express, The Australian Banker’s Association, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and an up and coming competitor who is going to be squashed – Paymate. I admit, the number of submissions was too vast for me to wade through but opening the ones from the most serious players and a random sample of others, I found very little support and a great deal of valid apprehensions.


The ACCC has sought eBay's views on the submissions it has received, and requested that eBay provide these comments by 23 May 2008. So despite eBay Australia stating this is a given, the ACCC not only hasn’t made a ruling, the closing date for response hasn’t even been reached. The ACCC is being very transparent in their dealings with this matter and have links to the submissions made so far and the documentation is vast. Go HERE to their website It is huge amount of information - the eBay submission alone is 75 pages - but it is well worth reading at least some of it. This could make an incredibly serious impact on fair trading on the internet and this should concern everyone who uses eBay.

My personal view is that this is a step in a rather frightening direction but it is up to the ACCC to decide whether to mount a case to prevent this happening based on whether or not they see it as a violation of trade practices. The part of the act that deals with it is Section 47 of the Trade Practices Act (TPA) 1974. It is very long and written in legalese but primarily states the following: Subject to this section, a corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, engage in the practice of exclusive dealing.

So basically the TPA prohibits exclusive dealing if it has the purpose of, or is likely to, have the effect of substantially lessening competition. With this change eBay is seeking to not only lessen competition but eradicate it. The only payment methods that will be accepted, if they are allowed to go ahead, is payment via their own company PayPal, credit card payments that are processed only by their company PayPal or cash on pick up (there are a few exemptions on very high priced goods). How is this not a clear violation of the Trade Practices Act?

If, as in their notice of intention, taking away the customers right to choose how they want to pay for their purchase will only benefit its customers, why is this not being sought for by eBay companies around the world at the same time? My thoughts, this is a test case for worldwide introduction. If the ACCC rolls over and allows this very obvious breach then it has set a precedent for eBay worldwide to follow suit. That is the scariest proposition of all as eBay has massive international presence in online trading.

In their submission eBay states that ‘…any anticompetitive effect of the Conduct is likely to be relatively minor’.

They also state that they ‘understand one of the two biggest reasons that eBay buyers decide not to purchase additional products on the eBay site is “trust and safety issues” including “bad buyer experiences” which are common sources of dispute”.’ It further goes on to state that ‘enhanced security delivered through PayPal’s “closed loop” system is particularly beneficial to buyers’.

In Section 5.10 of their submission they even state that: ‘The Benefit to PayPal users would extend beyond their experience solely on eBay if the mandated use of PayPal on eBay also encouraged them to use PayPal or another secure online payment facility for other online payments’.

In other words, it will help them grow their online payment business external to eBay…but it’s all in the customers’ best interest.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe there is a risk of fraud when dealing with online transactions in environments like eBay and PayPal is a proven secure payment system. BUT, I also believe the consumer has the right to choose if the benefit outweighs the risk and also who they wish to use and how they wish to make or receive payment. PayPal is not the only secure online payment facility but it is the only secure online payment facility owned wholly by eBay.

Now how about if they own the only payment system you can use, they then remove the eBay listing fee? That would be fair but of course that would seriously reduce their profit margin because at the moment they do charge twice if you are a seller choosing to use the PayPal system. But currently the seller has the choice whether they want to participate in a payment system that may make their transactions safer and PayPal is NOT the only system that is secure. By taking the route they are now, eBay is effectively forcing] sellers to pay twice. If you are small potatoes and are only selling items with a small margin for profit, for example used books, clothing etc, these fees will eat a hole in your profit that after taking into consideration, postage, handling, time etc would render it quite worthless. Therefore, either sellers will increase costs to buyers to cover these expenses by ramping up postage and handling fees, or we will have a diminished pool of sellers because it will not be worth their while.

If you are still unsure as to how dubious this is these are just a couple of snippets from the submissions to the ACCC.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission, in their submission, stated that PayPal was a secure method of payment but to my utter surprise also included the following paragraph which I found very disturbing: ‘…unlike most AFS licensees that provide banking and non-cash payment services, PayPal has declined to become a signatory to the Electronic Funds Transfer Code of Conduct (EFT Code). The EFT Code is the key consumer protection code applying to the payment services industry, and covers fundamental issues concerning consumer rights, security, disclosure and resolution of mistaken and unauthorized payments.’

The Commonwealth Bank stated: ‘The Fact that PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay Inc is germane to this debate as is the clear commercial benefit that will accrue to PayPal as a result of this initiative.’

I’m not telling you how you should feel about this issue but I think people should be informed as to what is going on. I signed the petition against it. It will absolutely prevent me from the ‘bits and pieces’ selling that I currently participate in. I am hoping that the ACCC sees sense and intervenes to allow us, the sellers and consumers, the choice to make our own decisions and to not let such a major player get such a huge stranglehold in a market which will prevent new businesses getting a foot in the door and deny existing small players the opportunity to grow.

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Bless their thieving little dumbarse cotton socks. This story just tickled me; a) I love hearing about thieves getting their just desserts and b) I love hearing about how technology can make our lives better and or easier. This story blends the two.

Two men were arrested in White Plains New York with $US5500 worth of stolen computers and electronic devices including iPods, TVs and game consoles after the owner happy snapped one of the thieves using her webcam remotely.

A 19 year old female Apple employee (and my new hero), returned home on April 27 to find that the apartment she shared with two others had been burgled according to the local Lower Hudson Valley newspaper, The Journal News.

Just last week one of her friends, who had seen she was online, sent her a text message to congratulate her on getting her laptop back. Except she hadn’t. Realising the thief that stole her laptop had gone online the savvy girl signed on to another Mac computer and activated the Back to My Mac feature in Leopard which allows single sign-in to .Mac for remote, secure access to all computers on which you've signed in. She then remotely activated her MacBook’s built-in iSight camera. While the thief sat down in front of the computer, our quick thinking hero captured an image. She also snagged photos off her computer that the other thief had uploaded.

Then, in what turns out to be the best twist of all, one of the flatmates recognised the thieves by their photos. It seems Ian Frias and Edmon Shahikian had been to a party at the victim’s apartment a few weeks before.

Both Frias and Shahikian are due to appear in court this week on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. They also have an upcoming court date pending over dope bust last year. Frias pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana-possession charge and is to appear for sentencing. The case against Shahikian is still pending.



Image from lohud.com

Guys, your uppance has well and truly come.

Oh and Dave, this one's for you. Let's hope something like this happens one day really soon to the creeps that robbed you.


Information source The Journal News and The Australian

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If you are a fan of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity and you live in Sydney or Melbourne, you’re in luck. The HUB Productions is presenting a Serenity convention this weekend Saturday 10th May in Sydney and Sunday 11th May in Melbourne from 9.00am to 6.00pm both days.


Nathan Fillion – Captain Malcolm Reynolds
Ron Glass – Shepherd Book
and Jason Palmer – Illustrator of Serenity artworks

The event features the guests live on stage for a few stories, anecdotes as well as Question and Answers. There will also be a variety of events throughout the day, such as auctions, raffles and trivia. There will also be merchandise as well as rare collectables available to purchase from the dealers. You will also have the chance to meet the VIP guest and acquire autographs and professional photographs.

Please note that autographs are provided via your seating allocations so book early to ensure availability.

For your tickets or absentee packs and full information go to www.thehubproductions.com

Make sure you don't miss out!



About The HUB

The HUB Productions was created by a pop culture fan for pop-culture fans. The goal of the HUB Productions is to create once-off fan experiences with cast and crew of adored genre programming, with events that focus on quality above all else. The Hub Productions brings all these events to you in association with DCA Enterprises.

All information is owned and created by The HUB. www.thehubproductions.com
I'm in no way affilliated with The HUB
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Facebook: Huge security flaw.

May 6th 2008 12:39
The BBC technology program ‘Click’ has shown how vulnerable your personal information is on Facebook and how easily that information could easily be stolen.

Facebook allows users to add myriad applications to their profile. But as the BBC has shown, anyone with coding experience could potentially mine your personal info by creating a malicious program concealed as an application


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Free Comic Book Day - 3 May 2008

April 29th 2008 14:45
There are some of you who may already be aware of this but if you are a comic book fan take note. On Saturday, May 3rd – the comic book industry once again celebrates
Free Comic Book Day!


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Sarah Michelle-Gellar – Buffy Summers

Since leaving Buffy, Sarah’s career has continued to be quite varied. She has provided voice-overs on The Simpsons, fellow Buffy regular Seth Green’s animated series Robot Chicken, the long-delayed Happily N'Ever After, providing the voice of Cinderella and the CG Animation TMNT. Gellar reprised her role of Daphne in the Scooby Doo sequel and went on to scare the pants off us in the American remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge - known just as The Grudge for the Western audience - and had a cameo performance in its follow up, the oh so cleverly named The Grudge 2. Another horror/thriller which wasn’t quite as successful was The Return


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The $AU282,000 Aston Martin that was to be James Bond's car in the latest film about the secret agent spectacularly crashed into Italy's Lake Garda. Amazingly, Fraser Dunn, the technician who was transporting the vehicle when he lost control, went through an iron guard rail and into the lake, suffered only minor injuries. Not so lucky for the car. According to producers, the driver lost control in heavy rain on a narrow bend. Mr Dunn was driving one of five DBSs to the set of the movie which had just begun shooting at this location.


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What in the weird?

April 20th 2008 14:48
Sometimes truth is way stranger than fiction. Just for a laugh I thought I’d share some of the USA’s strangest laws that are still on the books.

In the state of Rhode Island it is illegal to throw pickle juice on a trolley. I’m guessing this means a tram and I would love to know the story behind that one


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In true celebrity spirit, Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton have chosen an unusual baby name. Ignatius is in fact a very old name of Latin origin but I was very amused to find on a baby name origin site it was rated under saints and pirate names! Now I knew about Saint Ignatius but I can’t say I’ve ever heard of Ignatius the Pirate. But while we often raise our eyebrows at the names celebrities inflict upon their children as I poked fun at in my previous post, do we know the real names of many celebrities?

Many stars have dropped part of their name when climbing their way to fame but seems to be a music thing rather than the acting profession like Madonna (Ciccone), Beyonce (Knowles), Prince (Nelson) – who also changed his name to a ridiculous symbol and then became The Artist formerly Known as Prince but is now just Prince again (?!), Bjork (Guðmundsdóttir) and Shakira (Ripoll


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Why oh why is it that celebrities think it is cool to saddle their children with the most ridiculous names? Do they think being the child of a star is enough to stop the taunts? Do they send their children to school with bodyguards? Not to mention the thought that all of these kids must have had at some stage – that their parents must really hate them.

These, in my opinion, are among the silliest and are in no particular order. Now you may disagree and think they are cool and at least they aren’t boring. Give me boring any old day


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