and boring..YES

: they say that they are doing this to protect
: bidders, so that they will not receive
: fraudulent offers, spam, etc.

: My initial reaction is that this is a terrible
: thing. If we can't see the IDs of bidders,
: then

: we will not be able to see whether we are
: bidding against shills
: we will not be able to see whether we are
: bidding against (sniping) our friends
: we won't see who is winning the Heuers
: we won't see and develop relationships with
: other guys bidding for Heuers
:
: There are many more reasons that this seems
: like a bad change, but these are the initial
: reactions. Yet another example of losing
: information / transparency. How would you
: feel if you walked into a live auction --
: say the big Monterey or Monaco auction --
: and all the bidders were wearing masks??
: Ebay calls this new approach, SMI . . .
: could that stand for Ski Masks,
: Incorporated??

: what do our other readers think of this new
: approach from ebay?

: Jeff

:
:
: Notice from ebay, January 8, 2007

: A couple of months ago, I told you about an
: important new initiative called Safeguarding
: Member IDs (read my announcement from
: November 2, 2006). Safeguarding Member IDs
: (SMI) is a significant step forward in
: protecting eBay's bidders, who have
: increasingly become targets for unwanted
: commercial and malicious spam, such as
: phishing, spoof, and fake Second Chance
: Offers.

: SMI adds a new layer of privacy by replacing
: specific User IDs with aliases (bidder 1,
: bidder 2, bidder 3, etc.). To ensure buyers
: continue to feel trust in the bidding
: process, SMI also provides an updated Bid
: History page with aggregate information
: about the bidders involved in a given
: listing, as well as their other recent
: activity with the listing's seller.

: Coming this week: eBay.com and eBay Canada to
: Launch SMI

: Following SMI's introduction last fall on eBay
: Motors, our eBay sites in the United Kingdom
: and Australia also made the decision to
: launch SMI. The results we're seeing for all
: three launches indicate that these changes
: are having the impact we are striving for –
: in short, a reduction in unwanted commercial
: and malicious spam (including Fake Second
: Chance Offers) to bidders on higher-priced
: auction-style listings.

: As a result eBay.com and eBay.ca will be
: launching SMI later this week. SMI will
: impact listings on eBay.com that start at or
: reach a bid level of $200 or greater. On
: eBay Canada, it will impact listings above
: the C$220 level. Please read our
: Safeguarding Member IDs Frequently Asked
: Questions for more information.

: Community Concerns

: I'd like to acknowledge the concerns we've
: heard from some members who believe these
: changes may encourage shill bidding (the act
: of using friends or alias User IDs to bid on
: a seller's own listing to artificially
: increase the bidding level.) First, let me
: make it very clear that shill bidding is not
: tolerated on eBay. Not only is this activity
: prohibited by our policies (read our shill
: bidding policy), it is also a crime in many
: states.

: In addition to the Bid History changes I've
: described above which are designed to give
: buyers the information they need to feel
: confident, it's important to know that over
: the years, eBay has invested heavily in
: shill detection systems. We can proactively
: detect and investigate possible shill
: bidding scenarios with a higher rate of
: accuracy than ever before. These backend
: systems collect more information on selling
: and bidding activity than our Community has
: access to, so we can detect patterns and
: ascertain identities much more accurately.

: Be assured that we will continue to monitor the
: sites where SMI has launched to ensure that
: increased shill bidding does not become an
: unintended consequence of SMI.

: I want to thank the Community for the support
: you've shown for these changes thus far.
: While reducing transparency on the site is
: understandably controversial, I believe
: these changes strike the right balance
: between the need for openness and the need
: to protect our members from online threats.

: Sincerely,

: Rob Chesnut

: Senior Vice President, eBay Global Trust &
: Safety