News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by A4ET8a8uTh0 on Friday March 05, 2021 @03:32AM (#26354372)
I don't have a real proposal in mind and like you I do not think Amazon or Ebay are critical to the stability of the internet.

I do think, however, that the current situation is no longer acceptable. I don't know whether as a society we should consider some sort of limit on influence a given company has, but that is actually what is needed. If Ebay was a corner store, I would not give half a shit that it stopped carrying Seuss. When a publicly traded company does it, it quickly becomes problematic.

Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by dd36 on Friday March 05, 2021 @04:15AM (#26354721)
This outrage over a private company having the freedom to choose what it sells feels contrived.
Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by morlockabove on Friday March 05, 2021 @06:00AM (#26355416)
They're a publically traded monopoly marketplace with special legal protection from being sued. I would be fine with them being forced to act like what they pretend to be- a commons, a market.

The freedom of a giant, monopolistic company is not aligned with the freedom of humans.

We already have precedents for conpanies being forced to impartiality- utilities. Ebay's a utility, the modern large-scale version of the ground a flea market sits on.

Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by dd36 on Friday March 05, 2021 @09:06AM (#26356966)
No. Ebay is not a monopoly nor does it have special legal protections.
Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by morlockabove on Friday March 05, 2021 @02:40PM (#26361125)
Section 230
Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by LocalH on Friday March 05, 2021 @07:53AM (#26356298)
The outrage is over the power imbalance. The fact that this is one of the things that is bringing it to a head is almost inconsequential.
Re:Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay by dd36 on Friday March 05, 2021 @09:04AM (#26356951)
The power imbalance between businesses and their customers?