Ethics Newsline®

NEW YORK
The city of New York last week urged Internet auction giant eBay to remove from its site a number of items related to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, saying the items would “belittle the memory of those who died.”

Michael Cardozo, the New York City’s chief attorney, said the items — including a pair of dust-covered boots allegedly worn at Ground Zero, and 911 audio tapes of phone calls made on September 11 — are “morally repugnant,” according to a Reuters report.

“Many of these items represent outrageous attempts to profit from a recent act of mass murder,” Cardozo wrote in a letter to eBay. “But most importantly, it is completely offensive to the victims and the times in which we find ourselves.”

Cardozo asked eBay to voluntary pull items related to the attacks, and threatened to attempt legal action if the auction site refused, reported the Reuters news agency.

Although eBay barred such items from its site for three months following the attacks, the policy was dropped in January. Since then, a large number of attack-related items have been offered for sale.

eBay spokesman Henry Gomez says the company is working hard to make sure that sales of offensive items are blocked. “The city has got to work with us a little bit,” Gomez told Reuters. “We are basically supportive of the city’s point of view.”