At press time, the date of the court’s ruling in the Conseil’s suit against eBay was unknown, and potential appeals are likely to prolong the case for up to two years. In the meantime, France is expected to implement the European Union’s Bolkestein directive, possibly before the end of this year, which will overhaul the country’s auction laws and diminish the Conseil’s role. This pending reduction in power is why Giacomotto believes “auction regulations based on market transparency, responsibility, equal competition and consumer protection appear more necessary than ever.”

This prospect is perhaps also why eBay appears unfazed by the legal actions against it. So far, the Conseil’s appeals to the French government and the EU “have not, it seems, met much response,” says Menais. “People should adapt to the world of 2008.”

“This is not a fight against sales on the Web,” counters Giacomotto. “Internet is the future. Our lawsuit is a way of alerting the powers that be to what’s going on, on the Net. If the new legislation takes this into account, we’ll have done our job.”

"Keeping eBay at Bay" originally appeared in the March 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's March 2008 Table of Contents.