THIS WAS FROM EBAY
***Update on Canada Revenue Agency request for 2004-2005 PowerSeller Information***
13 November, 2008 | 09:00
Scott Shipman
As many of you know, in 2007, the Federal Court of Canada upheld the Canada Revenue Agencys (CRA) request for certain customer information regarding Canadian PowerSellers during the years 2004 and 2005. In defense of our members privacy, we vigorously defended that ruling, and a series of appeals has been underway since then.
Unfortunately, on November 7, 2008, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the CRA, and against eBay. Consequently, the court has ordered eBay to provide information on PowerSellers from 2004 and 2005.
We have sent an email to all members whose information must be released to the CRA. Please check your Messages folder in My eBay if you are unsure of whether you are affected by this ruling.
This is not the outcome that we wanted, and we strenuously object to being forced to release our members information. Protecting our users' privacy is of the utmost importance.
Please note that the CRA has indicated to us that they will seek court orders for PowerSeller information for subsequent years. Given their intentions, we would like to remind sellers once again that they are responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with all laws and regulations relating to their activities online. A change in PowerSeller status at this time will not alter our information disclosure requirements.
The court rulings, additional information and the answers to some commonly-asked questions are posted at www.ebay.ca/powersellerinfo. If you have additional questions about this situation, you may email
[email protected]
We appreciate that this matter is of great concern to our members and continue to work hard to protect your privacy.
Yours sincerely,
Scott Shipman
Senior Counsel
Global Privacy Practices
