We’ve previously ridiculed suits against Ebay over items purchased there (e.g., Jul. 13, 2000); after all, if Ebay, as opposed to individual sellers, were to be held legally responsible for every transaction on the site, it would defeat the purpose of a low-transaction-cost Internet bazaar. But India has taken the illogic one step further by arresting and holding without bail Avnish Bajaj, the American head of the local affiliate website Baazee because a college student, in violation of the site’s policy, auctioned a (now-widely-available) two-minute amateur porn film made by a couple of teenagers from the prestigious Delhi Public School. (Saritha Rai, “EBay Fights India Arrest Over Sale of Sex Video”, New York Times, Dec. 21; Paul Watson, “Cellphone Sexcapade Fuels Scandal in India”, LA Times, Dec. 21; Rohit Wadhwaney, “From Baazee CEO to Jail No 3 of Tihar prison”, Times of India, Dec. 20).
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