Not if you judge by THIS item, for example. This isn't a celebrity fake. Or a hacked photo stolen from a celebrity's computer.
It's an ordinary girl, perhaps DATE-RAPED, lying passed out on a bed. A souvenir photo has been taken.
This picture can be found all over the Internet, which is bad enough. BUT...you've got clever eBay sellers thinking, "I can sell this. Just run it through my printer! Ha ha. Some guy uses this girl, and I will use her too."
Like so:
In the moral world of pornography (yes, much more MORAL than EBAY or PAYPAL), no porn magazine or porn DVD can be sold without adhering to FEDERAL LAW. That means having a signed model release of age and consent."
What does THIS seller offer? Just the usual caveat that he's a "collector" and he likes to copy off and sell his STUFF:
ILLEGAL. IRRESPONSIBLE. MYSOGYNISTIC.
He admits this is a "reprint" from an "unknown photographer." He has NO model release. He has NO business selling such an image. But his BUSINESS is selling on EBAY with PAYPAL processing the credit card payments.
This seller has over SIX THOUSAND SUCH ITEMS FOR SALE ON EBAY EVERY WEEK. That's good PIMP money he's making.
How about THIS?
Is this GIRL 16? 17? Or is she 18?
One thing is certain: THE EBAY SELLER HAS NO IDEA, AND DOES NOT CARE. And neither does PAYPAL or EBAY.
Yes, this is another eBAY seller with THOUSANDS of STOLEN IMAGES being copied off and sold with NO MODEL RELEASE OF AGE OR CONSENT.
HERE is the AD:
The ad did NOT state: "I am the photographer of the image, I paid the model, the model is of legal age to pose for me, and my signed model release is on file with eBay."
NO. All you read is that this guy is a "Collector" and "RE-seller." He'll buy or download anything and copy it off and sell it on eBay. Fake celebrity nudes. Frames from movies that the actresses did not INTEND to be sold as photographs. Underage girls. ANYTHING.
One last example? A typical one: the wife as the whore. The woman in bondage. We have NO idea whether this woman consented or was FORCED into bondage:
This seller has literally THOUSANDS of these auctions on eBAY, and using PAYPAL.
He has NO signed model releases for ANY of the images, and only states that his material is being informally sold to collectors. He could care less if somebody recognizes a woman and harasses her, if the woman was coerced, or if the woman was later butchered. It's "somebody's naked wife," and she could be dead or alive. All HE knows is that HE wants his EBAY MONEY. He stole and copied this image fair and square:
How does EBAY CEO Devin Wenig and his legal counsel MARIE OH HUBER answer a problem like this? By ignoring it? That's what is going on now. They leave it to their low wage phone support staff in the Far East to prattle, "Not to worry, I will report this" or say "Just use the "report item" link on the auction page." EBAY's executive staff refuses to be reached and has no switchboard. Their San Jose office has a recorded message telling people to punch in the "CODE NUMBER" for the person they want to reach. All others, FORGET IT.
Letters from ordinary people to Wenig and Huber seem to be thrown in the garbage. It's not even worth their time to send a blathery, "we will take the appropriate action" response. It's a stone wall. It seems that companies such as EBAY and PAYPAL and GOOGLE have learned from SCIENTOLOGY that you can create a compound and simply stay quiet and watch the money roll in.
EBAY and PAYPAL have NO MORALITY. PAYPAL makes it very difficult to report anything. If you do find a template on your Paypal account for reporting a problem, and you report an auction like THIS, you will get a form letter telling you that "appropriate action" will be taken. NONE.
As for EBAY, there is a "report item" link on every auction. Report this item? To what category? "Offensive materials?" Ebay does not find THIS image "offensive." It was reported and not removed. How about "ADULT: Not allowed at all?" Nope. Report the item to THAT category, and some sleepy eBay employee will shrug: what's wrong with it? It's allowed.
If you call up eBay and read them the auction number and say "Isn't this obscene? Isn't this offensive?" The stooge on the phone may agree, and say, "Oh yes, I will forward this to our Trust and Safety Department." The stooge will not let YOU talk to someone in that department and will not give YOU the phone number for that department, and the item will NOT be removed. It's up to you to call back again and again and say "But the item wasn't removed," and here "Oh, not to worry, I will send in another report."
EBAY employees routinely ignore or "interpret" reports submitted, and as with the item above, considered it JUST FINE. Just because it is violating a FEDERAL LAW, it's JUST FINE.
The Federal Law:
The ethical pornography business (as opposed to the unethical world of EBAY and PAYPAL) even has websites where people can buy the documents needed to be within the law. Here's such a website:
WHAT IS NEEDED IS FOR EBAY TO COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW. EBAY SHOULD NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO SELL AMATEUR PORN, which includes photos not taken by the seller, photos for which the seller has no model release, invasion of privacy pictures of celebrities, and any faked pictures of celebrities
Sellers on eBay should basically be confined to selling PROFESSIONALLY MADE magazines and DVDs, and amateur material they make themselves and for which they have sent in documentation to eBay with the models' SIGNED DOCUMENTS OF AGE AND CONSENT ON FILE.
That's how to do professional business. As for PAYPAL, they claim to have "Terms of Service" that generally disallow any sale of photos such as the above. But such "Terms of Service" are worthless if Paypal's phone support only pretends to act, and if there is actually no easy way of contacting PAYPAL and making sure the items are removed. PAYPAL should have a separate "REPORT ITEM TO PAYPAL" for ADULT ITEMS on EBAY. This is a serious matter.
As for the blatant and misogynistic abuse of female celebrities on eBay, there are many posts on the site you can read for more information. What's very important to note is that ORDINARY WOMEN are being abused on eBAY just as they are being date-raped and drugged and abused in the "real" world.
The photo above. That woman was abused in the real world. And now, she is being shamed, humiliated, and SOLD FOR PROFIT on eBay. That's adding abominable insult to the injury. If CEO Devin Wenig is not another HARVEY WEINSTEIN, he will make sure that this abuse ENDS. This site would applaud him for it, and update to reflect EBAY's new-found morality.
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