posted on May 5, 2003 03:13:58 PM new
Heard on the news tonite 6pm est that ebay shut down an auction offering pieces of the old Man of the Mountain (Indian face on the new quarter that crumbled yesterday after 6 million years).
apparently ebay said it violates its policies.
They have a policy against offering pieces of rock?
Can someone enlighten me?
If not, is ebay making up rules as it goes along? (duh.)
Vinnie in New Hampshire (not my auction shut down)
posted on May 5, 2003 03:37:08 PM newcapotasto Can someone enlighten me?
This isn't a new policy.
Artifacts taken from any federal, state, public Department of Interior Agencies (NPS, BLM, USFWS) and Department of Agriculture Agencies (USFS), Native American land, or battlefield are prohibited for sale.
posted on May 5, 2003 03:37:27 PM new
Maybe eBay has declared it a disaster or an act of terrorism and are following whatever rules they made up to stop people selling chunks of plane crashes or the WTC.
Maybe since our Governor is intent on rebuilding it (huh?) he has declared "vero" rights to the pieces.
Was the stone face and the property it's on or fell to NH property? There is a law about taking natural resources from public property. An example of that is its against the law to take a pail of beach sand home from the beach.
Anyway, I have plenty of granite around my house. Who's to know if it came from the "old man" or not. Hmmmmmmmm.........
Tim in New Hampshire (not my auction shut down either)
posted on May 5, 2003 08:44:46 PM new
The specific rules are irrelevant. If there wasn't one already in place, they would make a new rule.
Ebay has decided it doesn't want to be associated with opportunistic maggots that want to profit off every newsworthy tragedy/accident/misfortune/bad luck that hits the news.
The 9/11 pieces and parts of the space shuttle were too much for eBay's PR people to handle.
Highly visible sales of this kind of item could eventually lead to increased attention by the government. That's something eBay would rather avoid.
posted on May 5, 2003 09:53:52 PM new
Not to mention the people that will sell ordinary chunks of granite to people and claim it was from the old man's face in the mountain. Anyone stupid enough to buy some rubble deserves to get taken.
posted on May 6, 2003 05:30:03 AM new
uaru, I agree with the policy re artifacts, but a rock is not an artifact.
Oh wait, God made it.... the anthropomorphic God? ... maybe it is an artifact.
replaymedia, the crumbling of a mountain isn't a tragedy, it's a natural process that will continue until the earth is as smooth as a billiard ball.
And what about the opportunistic maggots that buy cheap at yard sales and try to make a buck from their purchases on ebay? Should ebay have a rule prohibiting that?
Oh wait, that's me...
posted on May 6, 2003 05:57:05 AM new
It is sad that a landmark standing that long is now gone. It is even sadder that people have to come along and take advantage of it just to make a buck. Ebay is doing right by this. Not just because a landmark fell, but because they need to be consistent in their rules in order to enforce them. There will always be some scumbag out there trying to make a buck out of what is, to some people, a loss.
Shame!
Vinnie
It's probably just me (oh, I hope not) but if I find an item at a garage sale or flea market that is valuable enough to belong in a museum, that's where I'd take it. Mount Rushmore is a rock, if that fell you wouldn't consider it a tragedy and be appauled by people trying to sell pieces of it?
I know the difference between a monument and a rock. I was just trying to make a point that what is a rock to one person may be a monument to another. Geesh, I expect to get blasted on the RoundTable, but not here.
