I don't frequent auction sites very often, since I'm not big on trust where such user-to-user transactions are concerned.

It is therefore quite an experience for me to discover that software pirates now no longer require a brick and mortar stall to hawk their illegal wares.

Here're some of the auctions going on now:

-Warcraft III: Throne of Chaos

-Warhammer: Dawn of War

-UEFA Euro 2004

In all three auctions, the sellers helpfully inform the visitor that the software is non-original. And there's even a delivery system thanks to SingPost. The first seller (sg_business) even agrees to International shipping. Imagine that. A piracy shop without the startup costs associated with a brick and mortal stall as well as annoying raids from the pesky authorities. Almost complete anonymity too, with the profile blurb being as innocuous as "Hi, this is a collected outlet for a group of us who are interested to sell items over the internet".

Checking sg_business's profile, I did manage to find one black mark against him/her/them:

Buyer gives Bad Seller rating.
Comment:Sold,to the best of my knowledge non-original CD without indicating and even showed picture of the boxed real thing which is certainly misleading. Not even apolegetic about it. I would not have paid for registered post if I knew. (Aug 29 20:38 2004 SGT)

Response:Buyer insists that he didn't know that a $10 version of Quickbooks is not original. (Aug 30 10:53 2004 SGT)

Comment:I have reported this seller to the authorities for conning the public and selling counterfeit product without being honest. (Sep 14 08:46 2004 SGT) (most recent)

Response:You are a sore buyer who refused to ask question about the products even before bidding when my auction clearly states that. (Sep 14 10:49 2004 SGT)

Response:IT IS BUYER LIKE YOU WHO GIVES A BAD NANE (name) TO YAHOO AUCTIONS. (Sep 14 10:54 2004 SGT)

Note the carefully crafted dramatic irony in the last response. Masterful! Almost worthy of Oedipus the King.

An old CNET article, dated April 11, 2000, indicates that this form of piracy is not new. Makes me wonder why the anti-piracy champions have not foamed at the mouth trying to make online auction sites take more responsibility. Drafting a guideline which probably no one reads and claiming zero responsibility doesn't sound quite right to me, not when piracy is so blatant and glaring. Will the company even take action should such sellers get reported? Perhaps an experiment is in order.

Filed under: Internet, Technology