January 18, 2000
Web posted at: 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT)

By CNN Technology correspondent Rick Lockridge

(CNN) -- Internet auction controversies are nothing new. Just last September, a human kidney went up for sale on eBay. It turned out to be just another prank, but the bidding rose to nearly six million dollars before eBay shut the auction down.

Now a conservation group is objecting to the sale of items made from endangered species a practice that is already illegal, but still taking place on eBay.

It is prohibited to even possess endangered species, such as the hawksbill turtle, commonly called a tortoise shell. But poachers and collectors have been using the Internet to sell souvenirs made from the turtles.

A Florida conservation group says it was outraged to find more than 50 sea turtle products for sale on eBay. A quick search discovered a ladys clutch, an ornamental comb, guitar picks, a cigarette case and more items listed as genuine tortoise shell, made from the endangered turtle.

VIDEO CNN's Rick Lockridge shows how a conservation group is upset over one auction site's acceptance of alleged illegal material. Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD e-Commerce

We were actually appalled at how easy it was to list things and illegally sell them on the Internet and we were equally appalled at the number of items, says Gary Appleson of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Not just hawksbill sea turtles, but there was a whole array of endangered and threatened species products that were illegally being sold on eBay.

eBay general counsel Rob Chesnutt says the Web sites huge volume makes it impossible to monitor every sale.

We have over half a million items that are placed directly onto our site every day by eBay users, Chesnutt says.

He also referred to tricky laws and vague definitions that make the job more difficult. For example, federal law does allow the sale of some hawksbill turtle items, but only if they can be documented to be more than 100 years old. Some other items that are labeled tortoise shell may not contain any turtle parts at all.

Even the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, when they were trying to find some unlawful tortoise shell items, mistakenly thought that a couple of plastic items were in fact tortoise shell, Chesnutt says. So its not easy to tell, and you have to have a blanket restriction that would affect the livelihood of a number of eBay users.

But the Caribbean Conservation Corporation isnt satisfied with eBays efforts and is pressing the site to do a better job of enforcing its own rules.

Their own policy clearly states that they will not list sea turtle products, they will not list ivory, they will not list leopard skins and yet they list them all in abundance, Appelson says. Why have a policy if they cant control it?

eBay has responded saying it will be more vigilant, and Chesnutt says he will turn flagrant users over to the police. The Florida activists have offered to work with eBay to catch future offenders.

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