Indian eBay CEO jailed after a student sells sex pics

[ainsane]

Can't believe this. It doesn't make much sense to me. Source.

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Parent company <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> and Indian industry officials have expressed anger and concern over the jailing of the CEO of <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=79 target=_blank>eBay's</a> Indian subsidiary in connection with the online sale of a sex video.

The U.S. State Department also has made inquiries about the case.

Avnish Bajaj, the CEO of Baazee.com -- India's most popular shopping portal, now owned by California-based <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> Inc. -- was arrested Friday in connection with the sale of images showing teenage classmates at a New Delhi high school engaged in oral sex.

The U.S. company said it was "outraged" by the police action, saying the sale took place without the knowledge of company officials.

The seller violated the company's policies and Baazee.com took appropriate action in removing the item from its site as soon as it became aware of it, the company said

<a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> spent US$50 million in June to acquire Baazee.com.

Bajaj was in court on Saturday, where the judge refused bail and sent him to jail for a week. A U.S. consular official also attended the court hearing, the U.S. Embassy statement said, but didn't elaborate.

"The U.S. Embassy is following this case very closely. There is high level interest in Washington regarding the case," said an embassy statement issued over the weekend.

The seller, an engineering student in an eastern Indian city, was arrested a week ago. Police are hunting for the boy who filmed the act on his camera-fitted mobile phone and circulated it to his friends.

"The video clip itself was not shown on the site; the seller offered to e-mail the clip to the buyer directly," an <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> statement said.

"The listing violated Baazee.com's policies and user agreement and was removed from the site once it was discovered."

Bajaj was arrested after he voluntarily traveled to New Delhi to cooperate with the police investigating the case, <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> said, calling his arrest "unexpected and completely unwarranted."

Industry officials and legal experts in India also deplored the arrest and demanded that the government clarify the country's Information Technology Act.

Police said Friday that Bajaj was arrested under the 2000 IT Act that declares "publishing, transmitting, or causing to publish any information in electronic form, which is obscene" as a criminal offense.

However, the law is ambiguous about who should be held responsible for such offenses.

Deputy Commissioner of Police heading the investigation, Prabhakar, who uses only one name, declined to comment on Sunday.

According to the law, a network service provider or a Web site manager can't be held responsible for an electronic offense if he has acted diligently to prevent it after being informed about the offense, said Pawan Duggal, an expert on cyber laws.

But the provisions in this respect have not been clearly spelled out in the IT Act, leaving room for numerous interpretations, Duggal said.

Bajaj's arrest has "many ramifications," especially at a time when Internet usage in the country is rapidly growing and foreign investors are increasingly looking to India for e-commerce opportunities, said Amit Mitra, the chief executive at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"It's a huge service industry of tomorrow. We need to be careful and cautious in what we do," Mitra said. "The IT Act has to be now rethought."

[CSR]

um... ya.... way to goo.. WOO HOO!

[ainsane]

um... ya.... way to goo.. WOO HOO!

uh......... ok.....

[dashit]

thats dumb..."not been clearly spelled out in the IT Act, leaving room for numerous interpretations"...so all website owners are liable even if appriopriate actions have been taken.

outrage i say! so.............................................whe res the link to this vid?

[callous]

Was the video any good?

[steivewonder88]

this will definitely set an interesting precedent for future business in india, esp relating to e-commerce businesses.

[bluetroll]

that is sooo dum....

[actng]

where is the video? actually never mind, brown porn doesn't turn me on.

[sfu_lifer]

Was it gh3y porn or something?

And website folks SHOULD know what is on their site esp. if they're selling the video...

[ainsane]

Was it gh3y porn or something?

And website folks SHOULD know what is on their site esp. if they're selling the video...

He's the CEO of the indian <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> though. I would think its pretty hard for him personally to know absolutely everything being sold on the website. That's just crazy.

[artsreview]

Those South Asian countries are so hypocritical about sex. Word is that some unruly members of the Sikh community trashed a theatre in London (England) for a play that showed a rape in a Gurudwara. How many of them bothered to see the play, I wonder?

From sources, it seems the video clip showed a 16-year-old girl with a 17-year-old guy. The guy took the spycam vid. Nothing gh3y...

They should've just chopped the guy's _ _ _ _s off and ended the matter there.

[HammerJoe]

He is the CEO of <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>Ebay</a> and as such as a duty to know what's going on with his company.

No different from western countries.

As far the sex tape sale is concerned, you guys have to understand that we are talking about another country which has different morals and different law system.

[ainsane]

He is the CEO of <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>Ebay</a> and as such as a duty to know what's going on with his company.

No different from western countries.

As far the sex tape sale is concerned, you guys have to understand that we are talking about another country which has different morals and different law system.

I agree but I think its unreasonable to assume that the CEO has the time to check every single item being sold before it gets posted. But I guess it is his duty to employ people who's main job is to make sure there is nothing like that on the site. If he doesn't do that, then maybe it's his fault. But for some reason I doubt he is the only one sitting in the office running all the computers himself.

[felix]

Haha yeah, I saw it in the My <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> announcements section ..

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.sh...04-12-20181201

Surprised they would actually post this information on the site. Normally that section is used for news related to buying/selling on <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> :-)

Not sure what the big deal about it is either. <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> sells such videos all the time, only it's restricted to the Mature Audiences category which requires credit card verification. Only that paypal is not accepted for those auctions or something.

[uzer101]

And the MORAL RIGHT stANDS UP!

INdia loves its kittens!