Saturday 11 July 2009

Mary Honeyball In Talking Sense Shock!


There goes the neighbourhood. Hairy Moneyballs posted something on her blog which wasn't total bollocks!

If you are an eBay user, you may already have received the following e-mail. If you have, as a believer that everyone should be able to buy and sell on the internet, I would urge you to sign the eBay petition.

The petition is in regard to attempted protectionism being forced on the auction site by certain 'brand' companies. eBay explain it as follows:

EBay was built on a simple idea – that we could empower people by building a global trading platform where practically anyone could buy or sell practically anything.

Well, actually, eBay was built on the idea of making lots of money on the back of a vital free market (of which they shouldn't feel ashamed), but forget that for a second.

But that idea is now under threat from certain brand owners and manufacturers who are trying to turn back the clock and block the sale of their products on online marketplaces and other websites across the EU.

Ultimately, what is at stake is the right of sellers to compete fairly in the wider online marketplace, and the right of buyers to be able to access the best possible deals from the widest possible selection of goods.

We are therefore calling on European policymakers to amend EU competition law to stop these unfair trade practices.

Hairy is giving her backing to eBay and (no, please. I can't say this, it's not natural) I agree with her.

One of the infallible rules of life was that if ever one was starved of delusional cockwaffle, a quick trip to Hairy's place would fill that void. This principle has now been shaken to its very core. Black is now white, up is now down, chalk is now cheese (Liam Donaldson is still a cunt, though). If she posts more articles like this, I might even be reluctantly forced to go back to reading Paul Flynn for laughs ... yes, it is that worrying.

I'd never viewed Hairy as a free-market advocate before. Perhaps it was all the talk of positive discrimination and interference into such important issues as women being told to stop buying shoes that they wish to wear. Shows how wrong one can be.

Seeing as she is turning a bit libertarian, perhaps she might begin arguing for the abolition of the CAP which enables the EU to impose tariffs on the import of produce from non-member states. Not only that, it artificially creates waste via internal subsidies, thereby leading to dumping of surplus on impoverished nations. Without the CAP, Fairtrade (which, in turn, hypes prices to EU residents), so beloved by Labour, quite possibly wouldn't be necessary, as Dizzy argued in February.

Go on, Hairy, call for an end to it. A referendum on Lisbon would do the trick just as well. Be free, Hairy. Now you have dipped your toe in the water of the free market, embrace freedom from EU oligarchy, the biggest threat to the free market of them all. I dare ya.

One other aspect hits you when reading such lucid thoughts from Labour's second-rated London EU trougher. To receive the e-mail, she must therefore be an eBay member. I wonder what a generously-proportioned 80s throwback feminist buys on there with our taxes? Something like this perhaps?




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually from what I gather, Ebay don't give a shit about the rights of sellers to compete fairly ( Ebay have already denied the rights of sellers to compete fairly by enforcing them to offer free postage on all manner of items. Complainers are being told to hide the postage in their price( which may actually be illegal as then it's inclusive not free) hence upping the fees which only serves to increase Ebay's take.)And many more restrictive rules including mandatory Paypal payments (Ebay own Paypal = more take for Ebay)

This is how someone else describes it.....The petition is to change the laws that already exist. It isn't to stop the brands changing the laws.At the moment, any big brands who have sued Ebay have done so because it makes sense to go after the entity which has the most money. i.e. Ebay, not individual sellers.Ebay are attempting to get the law changed to prevent brands blanket banning their products on Ebay.

If Ebay are successful, this would then mean that sellers of fakes can continue and nothing legally could be done about it, other than the brands taking individual sellers to court, it leaves Ebay without any responsibilty to police the site. This leaves the site wide open to abuse, an increased number of fakes and sellers of genuine items being constantly monitored by brands ensuring their products are genuine.

It's a big con in an attempt to ensure that Ebay cannot be held responsible for the content listed on the site.

And if after all that you decide to sign the petition you will see this By clicking on the "I agree" button, you're allowing us to link your eBay account with eBay Government Relations. duhhh ?

Dick Puddlecote said...

Oh goody. Does this mean that Honeyball was talking bollocks after all?

You just made my day.

Marie said...

To receive the e-mail, she must therefore be an eBay member. I wonder what a generously-proportioned 80s throwback feminist buys on there with our taxes? Something like this perhaps?

Dick, maybe she was selling on some of the stuff she bought on expenses!

BTS said...

But surely no-one would cough up enough on there to keep her happy Marie..?

Makes me wonder if she hasn't tried selling her arse on there. No, wait, then she'd lose a few hundred pounds..