[calculoso]

http://technology.canoe.ca/2008/06/30/6028866-ap.html

PARIS - A French court has ordered EBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) to pay the equivalent of more than US$61 million to a high-end fashion company because counterfeit goods were sold on the online auction site.

The fashion company, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, is home to such prestigious brands as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci and Marc Jacobs, and had complained that it was hurt by the sale of knockoff bags and clothes on EBay.

The latest case in France pits two pillars of their industries - one old, one new - in a country whose courts often hold Internet companies responsible on matters protected elsewhere by freedom of speech. For example, French courts have ordered U.S. auction sites to keep Nazi paraphernalia away from French eyes.

This ruling came down against EBay on two fronts. The court faulted the online company for "guilty negligence," for not doing enough to prevent fake goods from being sold on its site. The court also ruled that EBay was responsible for the "illicit sale" of perfumes from the LVMH empire, which can be sold only through the brands' "selective distribution networks."

Wow. Only in France?