Trust and reputation on eBay: Towards a legal framework for feedback intermediaries

Abstract In ten years, eBay has gone from a small website for trading Pez dispensers to an electronic garage sale for millions of people around the globe. Part of the secret to its success is its Feedback Forum. The Feedback Forum induces trust between internet buyers and sellers. It allows eBay members to rate each others' performance after every deal that was struck on eBay. All ratings are published on the eBay website so that other eBay members can decide who to trust. It is questionable whether this trust is justified. Although the Feedback Forum has benefits regarding honest repeat players, it does not provide any real protection against fraudsters. To create a truly safer trading environment, a more elaborate and sophisticated reputation system is needed. However, current intermediary liability schemes give strong disincentives to put such a reputation system in place. This article argues in favour of putting in place a legal framework for feedback intermediaries to resolve this problem. Trust in Allah, but tie your camel. (Old Muslim Proverb)

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