Big retail joins Hollywood and big music in blaming the internet for theft

As long as there have been marketplaces, they have served as a channel for the trade of both legitimately acquired and illicit goods.  With changes in public’s buying habits along with the deepening recession cutting into brick and mortar profits, why not blame Ebay for playing the role of fence for stolen goods. While you’re at it, big retail, why not include Amazon, Overstock, Craigs List and any number of  other online marketplaces that allow anyone to sell goods to others. Even in the unlikely event you close down person to person sales on the Internet you’ll still have flea markets, garage sales and classified ad tabloids around to blame for your inability to cope with the bad economy and change.

“Thieves often tell the same disturbing story: they begin legitimately selling product on eBay and then become hooked by its addictive qualities, the anonymity it provides and the ease with which they gain exposure to millions of customers. When they run out of legitimate merchandise, they begin to steal intermittently, many times for the first time in their life, so they can continue selling online. The thefts then begin to spiral out of control and before they know it they quit their jobs, are recruiting accomplices and are crossing states lines to steal, all so they can support and perpetuate their online selling habit.”

Uh huh. Only problem? Actual stats show that such retail theft is on the decline. But, of course, that won’t stop the lobbyists from these stores from pushing — and that means we’ve now got the fourth such law introduced just this year to deal with. With the introduction of the new bill, the House Judiciary Committee held hearings with law enforcement officials who did claim that retail theft was a problem, but according to Thomas O’Toole, they also said no new laws were needed. (techdirt)

The biggest problem currently faced by retailers is an economic depression. The same folks who engineered the financial melt down are by in large the same lawmakers running the show in Washington today. Instead of new rules for the Internet that are bound to put a bigger chill on commerce, how about stepping back and doing a little less meddling. All of the ill informed intervention, spending and borrowing have only made things worse so far. More ham handed intervention by that same  poorly informed Parliament of whores is the last thing the Internet or the economy need right now.