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French Companies Against eBay`s Fake Products Sales

According to Marc Antoine Jamet, chairman of France`s Union of Manufacturers (Unifab), the Union plans to file a complaint seeking damages from eBay and other Internet auction sites for the sale of fake products on their Web pages. Other auction sites selling fake products include those run by privately held iOffer, Yahoo and Japan`s Rakuten. However the main one is eBay, with which Unifab has held more than a dozen meetings in the last two years.

"We think eBay is perfectly capable of policing its site, but they offer to take action only after the fact. They refuse to act preemptively. We think they have the IT to manage their sites, to track bank accounts and ownership," said Jamet.

eBay spokesman said the company operates an anti-counterfeit goods program and constantly monitors auctions for blatantly infringing products and removes them. He said they don`t allow counterfeit items on the site, according to eBay policy, and that they are committed to working with copyright owners on this. Unifab`s complaint will contain specific examples of counterfeit goods found for sale on the Internet.