Selling environment-damaging products is all right for eBay, rules judge

As part of the ongoing effort of the US authorities to regulate the products sold by independent vendors on online marketplaces, last year the Department of Justice (DOJ, from here on) filed a lawsuit targeting eBay. In this case, the lawsuit mentioned a large number of products that eBay allowed to be sold, although they are directly harmful to humans and the environment, or their use can increase pollution caused by vehicles. 

Out of a longer list of products that eBay allowed to be listed and sold, the DOJ mentioned a whopping 343,011 devices for motor vehicles that would allow the user to "tamper with or disable vehicle emissions control systems" alongside at least 23,000 pesticides that were misbranded, unregistered, or are strictly regulated. Additionally, the lawsuit also mentioned products containing methylene chloride, which has been banned from most products in April. The reason is that exposure to this thinning agent has been proven to cause cancer, liver damage, and death.

Thankfully for eBay, US District Judge Orelia Merchant ruled(PDF) that, under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, eBay cannot be held accountable for the activity of third parties on its online platform. However, the DOJ also got a small victory, since they managed to argue successfully that eBay went against the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Methylene Chloride Rule by choosing not to remove some listings of products containing methylene chloride.

For now, eBay is safe, but the DOJ can now appeal this decision to a higher court. In the meantime, eBay will continue its activity, focusing on preventing prohibited items from being listed, among many other things. Those interested in selling things properly on eBay can grab Money Maker Publishing's How to Sell on Ebay for Beginners: Ebay Selling Secrets for Easy Online Sales, available on Amazon starting at $2.99 in Kindle format (free with Kindle Unlimited).