Ebay - Bidder's Edge, Inc

eBay is one of the most popular auction websites for people to auction items off. The website allows people to put items up for auction and they make their money off of the fee's that they have. Bidder's Edge, Inc. is a website that allowed people to look to see if they could get an item for a better price. eBay prohibited the use of its servers because they claimed that it would reduce system performance, system unavailability, or data loss (Trampling through the Websites, 2000).

Bidder's Edge, Inc. linked themselves to eBay so that users would use their Web site. The judge in the case ruled that eBay's serves were private property. Private property means that no one can have use of the property unless the owner has given permission. Bidder Edge, Inc. did not have permission to link up with their website's severs. Bidder asked for a preliminary injunction but eBay proved that by linking up to their servers they did slow them down a little. The reason eBay for eBay's law suit was that it was affecting business for them. The linking causes the server to slow down and that makes it harder for people to have access to their site (Trampling through the Websites, 2000).

"In my business ethics text book it says that property rights the boundaries defining actions the individuals can take in relation to other individuals regarding their personal information. If one individual has the right to his or her personal information, someone else has the duty to observe that right" (Laura P. Hartman, 2011). The definition of property rights and the California law go hand and hand I think. Bidder Edge, Inc. was getting information from eBay's servers to benefit them.

Works Cited

Trampling through the Websites. (2000, May 26). When is "Linking" an Illegal Trespass?

Laura P. Hartman, J. D. (2011). Business Ethics:Decision Making for Personal Integrity and Social Responsiblity. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.