Lasers to be banned on Ebay

[Tyronics]

In response to this article- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7651466.stm ebay have stated they will ban green lasers.
Not only that, but speaking to an ebay rep further about it, it was clear they are going to ban red lasers, DJ lighting such as stroke lights etc, even laser modules.

Now im not fan of lasers on ebay. But i get alot of modules there and DJ equipment, i think this is excessive.

I talked to the ebay rep about the 240mW for £20. He didnt have a clue what i was on about. Clearly someone needs to train their staff to know this is a scam and that its not a 240mW. They are just getting scaremongered by the article which is full of alot of half-truths.

 

[disma]

Thats really stupid. If they ban all lasers, then they also need to ban pellet guns, air guns, knifes, rocks, tools, and anything else than can be used as a weapon. People can be so stupid.

 

[Tyronics]

The thing that gets me is they want to ban modules as well. Plus i use lasers on ebay from a regular supplier to make holograms. I think they are making a rash decision. I would give the ebay rep email out but i dont know if its against the forum rules?

Yes, they should start with banning knives and other more dangerous items before they start with these.

 

[k-shell]

The thing that gets me is they want to ban modules as well. Plus i use lasers on ebay from a regular supplier to make holograms. I think they are making a rash decision. [highlight]I would give the ebay rep email out but i dont know if its against the forum rules?[/highlight]

Yes, they should start with banning knives and other more dangerous items before they start with these.

If it's not against the rules I have a few things to say... seeing as how my Ebay id does have the word "laser" in it, this would almost make me discontinue using Ebay...   :-/

Idiots! (Prices will skyrocket, availability will nose dive)

 

[MarioMaster]

well at least there's the positive effect of reducing the availability of these lasers - it cuts off a large portion of the supply to the people who would probably be the ones pointing them at planes anyway :-/

 

[Switch]

NOOOO!!! What about gas lasers? :'( Are they gonna ban laser parts too? Like crystals and rod? drives, diodes? or only completed units? That would still be ok though.... :-/

 

[thesk8nmidget]

weird! i wonder if this will end up going into action.

seems stupid for a lot of reasons but i sure as hell would not mind all the laser pointers going away

 

[Switch]

Yea pointers....but the gas lasers? :'( Not the gas lasers!!!! How am I going to ever get a pretty argon or a powerfull CO[sub]2[/sub]? But maybe they just mean complete systems, so diodes and bars and parts will be ok.So you could still buy a tube and a PSU. :-/

 

[Tyronics]

james_uk@ebay.com You can let him know why you dont want lasers banned.

 

[ixfd64]

Hmm, there may be a way around this: "Selling funny joke for $150. Winner gets a free high-powered laser!"

 

[LRMNmeyer]

I don't want to spend $10000 for an argon. :'( They should ban working green portables, and red too. Has anyone ever heard of someone who shone a labby at an airplane.? :

 

[GooeyGus]

I really doubt they will ban lasers that are perfectly legal by FDA standards. That would be completely ridiculous. They would need to remove any and all cd, dvd, and blu-ray players. Also, most surverying, DNA, and high speed data transfer devices would be removed, as well as laser printers and barcode scanners. There is just no way they can ban 'every' laser. I'm sure they will ban pointers and other ILLEGAL lasers, but as far as getting rid of all lasers, I really doubt it.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Maybe lasers will move to another place like ebid.


Mike

 

[siop]

ebay will lose alot of reputation emplimenting something like this. That is an international community there and not all countries regulate laser usage/purchases. Descriptions with hand held lasers and pictures of them in the auction is one thing, but all laser equipment, including modules and dj equipment is overboard. Talk about a knee jerk reaction.

 

[pullbangdead]

Ebay already bans other things that are completely legal to buy, sell, trade, possess, own, etc. The first example that comes to mind are all firearms-related items. No long guns, no parts, no ammunition, no accessories, nothing. Yet in many countries, the US included, buying and selling those items is almost completely unregulated. It's a private company, all members are participating at their will, and they have every right to block the sale of anything that they want to block. And I doubt lasers will cause a fuss for most people, I doubt most will even notice if all laser pointers disappeared. I also doubt anyone, except a select few like us here, will even notice if they enforce the policy inconsistently and idiotically across all the items that get posted.

 

[Schrecken_Licht]

The original link is gone - I get a 404....but I also can't see how they could ban legitimate laser products with legitimate uses. Believe me - an argon laser system that weighs as much as a couple of 10 pin bowling balls is going to be pretty darned hard to use for illegal purposes, like pointing it at aircraft.

I suppose they could try and restrict sales to FDA compliant lasers, if they are complete and turnkey. But parts, components, diodes, etc - that's nuts. I don't think that will fly + I'm sure there will be plenty of sellers who will work to get around that.

That's true that Ebay bans lots of things that aren't illegal to sell in most places - but remember, EBay is located in California - a state that is very liberal in some ways, but very, very restrictive and repressive in others. For instance, I could legally sell anyone here (well, as long as you are in the US and live in a state where you can legally posses such an item, which is most states) a mountain lion skull, yet I cannot sell it on EBay because in California the animals are a protected species. Forget that I don't live in CA.....that's just wrong.

Thankfully there are sites (like this one, and a huge taxidermy site I visit where I can buy, sell and trade things that Ebay's bullhockey won't allow) where trading and selling can still go on.