The company, responding to outrage across its notice boards on Wednesday afternoon, removed several hundred listings from its site that associated themselves with the destroyed buildings. At 6 PM PDT, eBay.com posted a statement on the community section of its site asking all customers to refrain from mentioning the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon or the events of September 11 in their listings.
"In accordance with our Offensive Items Policy, all items directly related to this event (crime scene material, propaganda, etc.) will be removed from eBay...All items with World Trade Centre or Pentagon in the title will be removed, regardless of whether or not they are designated as a charity," read the statement.
The ban will last until October 1, in order to prevent individuals from making a profit out of the tragedy. The statement encourages users instead to donate the proceeds of their sales to a relevant charity.
This is not the first time that eBay has faced a dilemma of this kind. Earlier this year, it decided to change its policy on the auction of Nazi memorabilia on its site. Both eBay and Yahoo decided to adjust their policies to prohibit the listing of any items that have associations with oppressive or terrorist groups.
