eBay 2001 Annual Report Download - page 12

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Please find page 12 of the 2001 eBay annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

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SafeHarbor
TM
program
In addition to the Feedback Forum, we oÅer the SafeHarbor
TM
program, which provides guidelines for
trading, provides information to resolve user disputes and responds to reports of misuses of the eBay
service. eBay's SafeHarbor
TM
staÅ investigates users' complaints of possible misuse of the eBay service and
take appropriate action, including issuing warnings to users or suspending users from bidding on or listing
items for sale. Some of the complaints the SafeHarbor
TM
staÅ investigates include various forms of bid
manipulation, malicious posting of negative feedback and posting illegal items for sale. The SafeHarbor
TM
group is organized into three areas: Investigations, Community Watch and Fraud Prevention. The
Investigations team investigates reported trading infractions and misuse of the eBay service. The Fraud
Prevention department provides information to assist users with disputes over the quality of the goods sold
or potentially fraudulent transactions and, upon receipt of an oÇcially Ñled, written claim of fraud from a
user, will generally suspend or take other action against the oÅending user from the eBay service as
appropriate. The Community Watch department investigates the listing of illegal, infringing or
inappropriate items on the eBay.com site and violations of certain of our policies. Upon receipt of a valid
written claim of intellectual property infringement by the owner of the intellectual property, we will
remove the oÅending item. Users who repeatedly infringe intellectual property rights are suspended. In
addition, we have increased the number of people reviewing potentially illegal items. Our trust and safety
initiatives, including user identity veriÑcation, insurance, integrated escrow and authentication, are key
elements of our programs designed to make eBay a safe place to trade. See ""Risk Factors Ì Our business
may be harmed by fraudulent activities on our websites.''
Other Services
My eBay
We oÅer My eBay, which permits users to receive a report of their recent eBay activity, including
bidding, selling, account balances, favorite categories and recent feedback. Users with their own Web
pages also may post links from their web pages to eBay and list the items the user is selling on eBay. We
also oÅer About Me, which provides users the opportunity to create their own personal home page free of
charge on eBay using step-by-step instructions. The About Me home page can include personal
information, items listed for sale, eBay feedback ratings, images and links to other favorite sites.
Customer Support
We devote signiÑcant resources to personalized, timely customer service and support. We oÅer
customer support on a seven-days-a-week basis. Most customer support inquiries are handled via email,
typically within 24 hours after submission. We also oÅer an online tutorial for new eBay users and a
message board supported by users and eBay customer support staÅ.
Value-Added Services
We provide a variety of ""pre-trade'' and ""post-trade'' services to enhance the user experience and
make trading easier, safer and fun. ""Pre-trade'' services simplify the listing process and include photo
hosting, authentication and seller productivity software. ""Post-trade'' services make transactions easier and
more comfortable to complete, and include payment processing, insurance, vehicle inspections, escrow,
shipping and postage. We currently provide these services directly or through contractual arrangements
with third parties.
eBay Foundation
In June 1998, we donated 643,500 shares of common stock to the Community Foundation Silicon
Valley, a tax-exempt donor-advised public charity, and established a fund known as the ""eBay
Foundation.'' Since its inception, the eBay Foundation has made millions of dollars in grants to dozens of
programs and initiatives focused on education and expanded access to technology. We also seek user
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