> If some Internet "hotline" was set up, what would the liabilities
> be, and would it ever work?

Perhaps an independently-maintained list of questionable offerings
might be of some use.

Criminals are always quick to threaten lawsuits, but I don't see
how a simple numerical listing of auction items with unverifiable
information attached to them could give anyone ammunition.  If I offer
my grandmother's player piano for auction on eBay and I make claims
for it that don't sound legitimate, whoever sees that auction site
could copy the number of my item to such a list and then send me a
message telling me that this has been done, along with instructions
as to how to respond and get my item removed from that list.

For example, perhaps I have claimed that the piano plate is covered
in solid gold, or was owned by Liberace.  This is the sort of thing
that someone would do out of sheer ignorance, and I would be invited
to try to verify my claim.  If I don't respond, then my item stays
on the Unverifiable Claims list, which interested parties might then
consult.  If I do respond, then my response goes next to the entry for
my item, or the item could be removed from the list at the option of
the list maintainer.

Much the same action would be taken in more egregious cases, such as
the posting of an auction photograph of the item that is known to be
lifted from another source.  The seller would be invited to either
withdraw the photograph or post an explanation as to why he used that
one.  If he's a crook, he'll simply ignore the inquiry.

The point here is that anyone who does not respond to inquiries through
eBay's e-mail system is unlikely to any more responsive to those from
an independent list.  But in this case, the seller must actively seek
to have his item removed from that list, or else it will remain there.

It's been my experience that anyone who works legitimately within
eBay typically responds to inquiries within one day, and usually within
about an hour.  So if someone was to send an eBay e-mail inquiry to
a private auction and receive no response by the following day, that
item would be a good candidate to be placed on the Questionable List.

If the list has a carefully-crafted title, e.g., "List of items whose
sellers have not responded to inquiries," there would be no grounds for
legal action.  The criminals who lurk in eBay won't push their luck,
anyway; all that's at risk their two-dollar auction fee, and at worst
they'll likely just withdraw the phantom item and disappear.

I don't know if this sort of idea is at all practical, and I am hesitant
to offer lots of unwanted advice to experienced traders.  But I think
that the pooled expertise of mechanical music people should be used to
keep the immediate community apprised of questionable offerings, and
this seems to be one means of doing so.

Mark Kinsler