文章基本信息

标题：Car seller says rival posted misleading messages
作者：DAVID SEGAL
期刊名称：The Topeka Capital-Journal
印刷版ISSN：1067-1994
出版年度：1999
卷号：Apr 29, 1999
出版社：Morris Multimedia, Inc.

Car seller says rival posted misleading messages

DAVID SEGAL

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Two weeks after FedTrust Liquidations started selling cars on eBay, the online auction site, business at the Washington company suddenly stalled. The apparent cause: two messages posted on eBay's site, supposedly by disgruntled FedTrust customers.

"Would not disclose source of cars -- low-life liar," harrumphed one message in the feedback section of eBay, where buyers publicly review sellers. But FedTrust says the messages were written not by customers, but by employees of a rival car seller in Florida. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, FedTrust alleged that it was libeled by Specialty Car Sales Inc. of Miami and demanded damages in excess of $100,000, compensation for deals that eBay bidders allegedly backed out of after the negative reviews were posted.