How EBAY steals from helpless Stephen Hawking

How many times has an eBAY seller deliberately posted Stephen Hawking bootlegs? And got CAUGHT? And re-listed ANYWAY?

Too often to count. But SOME of the auction numbers previously stopped were:

112228191447
112088100216
122066678463
122073178902
112114958276
112120519691
112226979329
112076323716

and two days ago:

122220996841
112200540435

In the REAL world, this kind of thievery doesn't happen. Walk out with a Hawking book and get caught, and the bookstore will not let you back in. You might even be held for the police. On eBay? You get a form e-mail and nothing else.

Ebay will say that they have a "policy" on sellers who break their own rules (eBay officially does NOT allow digital downloads on their site). A rule-breaker can get a warning, followed by a "restriction" (no selling for a day) another "restriction" (no selling for a week) another "restriction" (no selling for a month) and a temporary suspension (or two or three or four) and maybe a permanent suspension.

Meanwhile Stephen Hawking is losing royalties and a thief is profiting, and eBay gets a percentage, as does Paypal. I remind you: this is going on with authors far less affluent than Hawking, as well. Bootleggers on eBay are victimizing ALL kinds of authors, including ones who write textbooks or specialized books. Every sale lost hurts. It also has a ripple effect of hurting bookstores and hurting libraries.

Stealing from a helpless author confined to a wheelchair? Like taking candy from a baby.

The FACT is that while eBay actually has some rules, and there's an obscure "report this item" link on every auction, not ALL eBay auctions are considered equal.

A seller who is caught offering "wet, smelly used panties" will get a pretty quick suspension. But a seller who merely rips off copyright? In an Internet world where people laugh and say "copyright is COPY WRONG?" Not a big deal.

That's why THIS seller, for the TENTH time that I know about, and more likely it's TWENTY, has yet to even have a restriction.

Instead, the seller acts as if Hawking licensed this abuse. As if this is legitimate. As if buying this ISN'T buying a bootleg.

Ebay has the power to suspend a seller like this after three strikes. They don't because they also have the power to do as they please. It's the same power another Internet giant, Amazon has. You know them. They tell book publishers to go fuck themselves. They tell book publishers what books they will or won't carry. They tell book publishers how much to charge for a digital download.

Somehow, some people, maybe the Pollyanna pussies at the Author's Guild, think the Internet is good for authors. No, it's good for parasitic maggots who offer illegal downloads on eBay. UPDATE DECEMBER 27th: After many complaints to EBAY and to ASKEBAY (at Twitter), this seller is currently NOT offering the Hawking items. The complaints did not come from Hawking's agent or publisher. They came from an advocate for eBay integrity and an end to digital bootlegging on the site.

This recalls Groucho's line to Margaret Dumont: "I'm fighting for your honor, which is more than you ever did."