A Yahoo! spokesman denied that the decision to censor items for
auction was a response to the French court's ruling against which
Yahoo! is said to be appealing. He claimed that the company’s
decision to ban such auctions was based on moral, not legal
grounds, adding that Yahoo! does not want to profit from items that
promote or glorify hatred.
Yahoo! has not appealed the decision of the Paris Tribunal de
Grande Instance to a higher French court. Instead, on 21st
December, Yahoo! asked a US Federal Court in San Jose, California,
to declare that the French govenment has no jurisdiction over
Yahoo! in the US and therefore cannot enfore its fines. It is
likely to be a few months before the US court rules on the
matter.
According to the new proposal from Yahoo!, software will be used
to filter the items for sale to prevent the auction of items
connected with Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, or other forbidden items
such as live animals and cigarettes. Users will be able to appeal
against any rejections.
Yahoo! is also introducing fees for users posting items for sale
to its site, a move which could reduce the company’s dependence on
advertising which now constitutes 80% of Yahoo!’s total revenue
stream. Its auction pages list around 150,000 new items every day.
The charges would range between 20 cents and $2.25 per item posted
for sale, scaled according to the asking price.
