(no subject)

[arethinn]

eBay to make all photos you upload available for all other users. You can opt out, but if you do so after August 31st then anything you upload between then and the time you do opt out is fair game. The steps are not as complicated as that poster makes it sound; basically, just go to My eBay, click Account, click Site Preferences on the sidebar (or in the menu you get when you hover over Account), and turn off the option for "Share your Photos".

I cannot imagine why this was thought to be a good idea to implement.

Comments

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

I cannot imagine why this was thought to be a good idea to implement.

Copyright exists by default and is worth protecting only when it makes large companies money, didn't you know?

*has sarcasm overdose*

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

actually this is one of the few cases I can see where this has an actually useful purpose beyond simply allowing the site to use user content in advertising.

assume that you are an ebay retailer selling a new (as opposed to like-new or near mint) retail item. still in factory seal, still in original condition. in that case, any photo of the item itself would be illustrative only (you cannot photograph the actual item as it is still in the original packaging) and any photo of the box itself will be essentially indistinguishable from any other photo of an identical box. by extension, any acceptable photo already extant in eBay's database would do as well as anything you could take.

that said, if you are equipped with a digital camera and baseline technological knowhow, taking and uploading a photo will probably be easier than finding one extant on eBay. on the other hand, if you have no or poor equipment, a lack of space in which to take a reasonable photo, or a lack of skill with which to make the thing viewable, this is something of a godsend.

[enotsola]

Those are, I assume, the advantages of it. Of course, the ability to use nice shiny photos of seller x's item, and making yours look better condition/quality than it is sounds problematic to me.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

as i said - its an advantage only if you're selling new-in-box items. not saying it's *good* - just that i can actually see an upside to someone other than the company, unlike most of these scenarios.

[elven-ranger.livejournal.com]

WTF! I shall be deffo turning that off!

[talonstrike.livejournal.com]

WTFever. I can't take a picture worth a damn anyway. If someone really wants to shoot themselves in the foot by using my shitty picture on their listing, it's their loss, not mine.

*shrug*

[dionysusdevotee.livejournal.com]

I don't see the problem with that, in and of itself.