Me: 3, Ebay users: 0
 

I just managed to prevent the sale of an alumni directory for my fraternity on three different auctions! I'm so proud of myself right now. Two of the auctions were actually the same person trying to sell the same auction after I got his/her first auction shut down. Ok, I'm done bragging now - just thought I'd share.

:D

Go you! We're making progress. :D

Way to go!

Awesome! The alums must be happy to stay off people's mailing lists.

That is great!!! Keep up the good work!!:D

thats great!! good job. one of our directories is up on ebay I just dont know how to stop it!! So any Zetas that wanna get it off of there PLEASE TRY!!!

Nichole

Just wanted to post this. There's a Kappa Sigma pledge book on sale, and in the description, the seller says, and I quote:

"My Grandmother has passed away and it is time to get rid of the entire estate. This is a dream for all of you collectors"

Sounds like kind of an insensitive thing to say after your grandmother died, right?

Collin

Pretty insensitive. Good job with the Alumni directory!

way to go SAE !!!!:D

Way to go SAE!!!

Good job! I'm glad to see you're doing something proactive. :cool:

Yay! Good work.

On a side note, Hermes has several articles in their latest issue on this topic. http://onlinehermes.com

Just out of curiousity, please don't flame me here, what is wrong with an alumni directory being sold? Is it the property of the person who purchased it or is it owned by the fraternity and leased to the member/alumnus (like badges)? Does it contain secret ritual information? I know we all do not like to see this type of thing sold, but what exactly is the issue with it? I purchased a directory a few years back and there is nothing keeping me from taking it to a used bookstore and selling it there. Don't get me wrong, I WOULD NOT do that, nor would I list it on eBay, but I don't see where there is an infringement of rights going on here. I would be curious to know how eBay was convinced to end the auction early if you're willing to share. Now are you going to go after all the sellers of used books that are on the internet already? For example Amazon has a used book section and you can find old fraternity/sorority history books, song books, cookbooks, directories, and more. How do you stop them? A book is a piece of property and as far as I am aware, unless it is a book owned by the chapter or the fraternity (like a ritual book) it is fair game for a member or former member to sell their history books and directories.

RTZTAS,

I think the issue with alumni directories is that a lot of members give their information with the understanding that it will only be distributed to and used by their sisters/brothers. There's nothing secret as far as rituals are concerned, it's just a matter of protecting the members' privacy. It's the same as if you get a credit card from The Limited or whatever and they promise not to sell your address or put you on another mailing list.

There are two problems with the sale of an alumni directory on ebay, the second being directly related to the first:

1) An alumni directory includes the names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information on every single living alumnus of the Fraternity. This kind of personal information is designed to be available only to members of the Fraternity and to no one else.

2) Because of the information contained in this type of item, ebay's policies specifically forbid the sale of any kind of personal information such as that found in alumni directories, or any other kind of mailing list.

Since 1) this type of item should never fall into the hands of someone outside the Fraternity for issues of privacy rights, and 2) this type of item is explicitly forbidden to be sold on ebay by ebay's own policies, any type of sale like this should be immediately reported to ebay so that they can terminate the auction.