E-Bay Bows to Brits on IRA Items

international | consumer issues | news report Wednesday September 22, 2004 21:46 by IRSCNA - Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America (IRSCNA) irsp at netwiz dot net

On-line auction giant e-Bay has banned the sale of all Irish Republican oriented materials from sale on its site.

22 September 2004

E-Bay Bows to Brits on IRA Items

On-line auction giant e-Bay has banned the sale of all Irish Republican oriented materials from sale on its site.

The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America (IRSCNA), supporters of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), found out about the new policy recently when their thirty regular listings of assorted T-shirts, pins, and badges were suddenly terminated and their account suspended for thirty days. The IRSCNA, which has sold its items on E-Bay for almost three years now, was somewhat annoyed to be told that they had been suspended because of a new E-Bay policy banning the sale of IRA items. The IRSP's armed wing is the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and, while the IRSCNA offered many items featuring its striking AK-47 grasped in a clenched fist in front of a red star emblem, it offered absolutely nothing for sale related to the IRA.

"We're quite proud of the distinctive aspects of the IRSP and INLA and aren't at all complimented to have them mistaken for the IRA, but we aren't surprised that to E-Bay, one Irish Republican is just like any other," said Peter Urban, North American Coordinator of the IRSCNA.

E-Bay informed the IRSCNA that:

"In accordance to policies on our UK site, the sale of all IRA items is not allowed under our Offensive/Violent materials policy. In an effort to bring many of our policies under a worldwide umbrella of enforcement, we will also not be allowing any IRA items listed on our other sites, including the US site, with designated worldwide shipping.

"You may however relist your item on the US eBay site, so long as it is listed with US shipping only.

Will the IRSCNA be back on E-Bay when its thirty day suspension is over?

Peter Urban said, "Certainly we'll be back, though we'll have to restrict our sales to the United States in order to do so. We aren't happy about it, as we do a lot of sales in Britain and Ireland, as well as Continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, but we'll still use e-Bay for sales in the U.S. The problem for us, is that we are organized throughout all of North America, and this is an affront to our Canadian members, not being able to sell there either."

He continued, "Needless to say, E-Bay is a capitalist enterprise, so we are hardly surprised that they've taken a position in support of British imperialism in Ireland, but it is a shame that political censorship of this nature is invading the internet. Those of us engaged in efforts outside the mainstream have given tremendous impetus to the growth and development of the Web, because we needed alternative resources. Having helped encourage these alternative resources, we're now finding ourselves excluded from them."

"This must be that 'freedom' Bush keeps saying everyone hates Americans for. Freedom to conform...it's the American way," Urban concluded, with perhaps just a hint of sarcasm.

ENDS