eBay tells AuctionWatch to cease and desist

http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/99/Oct/1004/mu13.htm

This Oct. 4, 1999 story from the Forbes newswire explains that ebay.com, the leading Internet auction site, has written a letter to AuctionWatch demanding that it stop listing ebay auctions in the auction comparisons shown on the AuctionWatch site.

Questions:

1. Why is it advantageous for ebay to not be listed in the auction comparisons?

2. Since ebay's auction information is publicly available through its web site, how can it demand that AuctionWatch not include ebay auctions in its comparisons?

3. What, if any, are the implications of this case for the way product and price information should or will be handled in ecommerce?

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