N.C. holds off controversial e-auction regs
Triangle Business Journal - by Amanda Strickland
RALEIGH North Carolina's move to temporarily hold off any regulation on Internet auctions signifies one major point old-fashioned lobbying is alive and well.
Just ask Sandra Olsen, the 59-year-old entrepreneur from western North Carolina.
Olsen sells doll house miniatures and sports collectibles in the small town of Brevard. To supplement her store's revenues, she would post items on eBay, but stopped last month when she realized she might need a $250 license from the North Carolina Auctioneer Licensing Board.
Frustrated, she and hundreds of others from across the country contacted their representatives, asking them to look into the new interpretation.
On Dec. 15, they got their request.
The five-member North Carolina Auctioneer Licensing Board voted unanimously to temporarily stop regulating Internet auctions until the state attorney general gives a formal opinion and the Joint Select Committee on Information Technology debates the issue.
The board decided to bring the AG's office into the case to prevent any potential lawsuits stemming from these regulations, says Bob Hamilton, executive director of the board.
The controversy stemmed when Hamilton prepared to launch a public education campaign on a year-old law, but it leaked onto Internet bulletin boards. The interpretation required a license of people who buy items and then sell them online. Violations could carry a $2,000 fine.
In response, Steve Blake, executive director of the California-based Online Auction Users Association, started a letter-writing campaign, called the major auction houses and went to the media. He says about 20,000 sellers in North Carolina could have been affected. "It's a small battle won but the war will go on," Blake says.
Hamilton says it was the individuals who sold items on auction sites that were most opposed, and many from out of state were also concerned that North Carolina's law would trickle into their states. Meanwhile, Olsen is going to go back online and sell her items until she hears she needs a license.
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