eBay will pay a $3 million fine to settle criminal charges that the company's security team harassed a Massachusetts couple for criticizing the platform on its site.
Under the deferred prosecution agreement, eBay admits liability for the actions of six of its former employees and a contractor, all of whom previously pleaded guilty to physically and cyberstalking Ina and David Steiner.
In 1999, the Steiners co-founded EcommerceBytes, an information portal that reports on and scrutinizes electronic commerce (E-Commerce) companies, including eBay. Some eBay executives were unhappy with the coverage and decided to put pressure on the Steiners to silence criticism.
The US Department of Justice subsequently charged eBay with:
2 counts of Cross State Harassment;
2 counts of stalking via electronic communications services;
1 count of tampering with witnesses;
1 count of obstruction of justice.
In addition to paying a $3 million fine, which is the statutory maximum fine for 6 felonies, eBay will also be required to retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for 3 years and make improvements to its compliance program. Meanwhile, the Steiners are privately suing eBay for damages, a process that is still ongoing.
Beginning in August 2019, eBay's former chief security officer and 6 of his colleagues targeted the Steiners for their coverage of eBay. 7 employees repeatedly wrote threatening messages to the Steiners at X, delivered various intimidating objects to the Steiners' home, and physically surveilled the couple.
Items sent to the Steiners included:
a book about how to survive after the death of a spouse;
porn subscriptions;
bloody pig mask;
piglet embryo;
funeral wreath;
live spiders and cockroaches.
Prosecutors said the former eBay employees also traveled to Natick, Massachusetts, to surveil their victims, installed a GPS tracking device on their car, and posted an ad online seeking sexual partners and providing the Steiners' home address.
After the Steiners called the police, the head director gave false statements to police and investigators. He and his team also deleted digital evidence related to the cyberstalking campaign and falsified records.
Six eBay employees, along with their supervisor, were convicted of participating in the following crimes:
the director received 4 years and 9 months in prison;
the first employee was sentenced to 2 years in prison;
the second officer received 1 year in prison;
the third officer received 1.5 years in prison and 1 year of house arrest;
2 more employees received 1 year of house arrest;
a sixth officer is awaiting sentencing.
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone (since 2020) noted that the company's behavior in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible. Since eBay first became aware of the events of 2019, the company has actively cooperated with law enforcement authorities. Iannone stressed that eBay continues to offer its “deepest apologies” to the Steiners for what they endured.
Under the deferred prosecution agreement, eBay admits liability for the actions of six of its former employees and a contractor, all of whom previously pleaded guilty to physically and cyberstalking Ina and David Steiner.
In 1999, the Steiners co-founded EcommerceBytes, an information portal that reports on and scrutinizes electronic commerce (E-Commerce) companies, including eBay. Some eBay executives were unhappy with the coverage and decided to put pressure on the Steiners to silence criticism.
The US Department of Justice subsequently charged eBay with:
2 counts of Cross State Harassment;
2 counts of stalking via electronic communications services;
1 count of tampering with witnesses;
1 count of obstruction of justice.
In addition to paying a $3 million fine, which is the statutory maximum fine for 6 felonies, eBay will also be required to retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for 3 years and make improvements to its compliance program. Meanwhile, the Steiners are privately suing eBay for damages, a process that is still ongoing.
Beginning in August 2019, eBay's former chief security officer and 6 of his colleagues targeted the Steiners for their coverage of eBay. 7 employees repeatedly wrote threatening messages to the Steiners at X, delivered various intimidating objects to the Steiners' home, and physically surveilled the couple.
Items sent to the Steiners included:
a book about how to survive after the death of a spouse;
porn subscriptions;
bloody pig mask;
piglet embryo;
funeral wreath;
live spiders and cockroaches.
Prosecutors said the former eBay employees also traveled to Natick, Massachusetts, to surveil their victims, installed a GPS tracking device on their car, and posted an ad online seeking sexual partners and providing the Steiners' home address.
After the Steiners called the police, the head director gave false statements to police and investigators. He and his team also deleted digital evidence related to the cyberstalking campaign and falsified records.
Six eBay employees, along with their supervisor, were convicted of participating in the following crimes:
the director received 4 years and 9 months in prison;
the first employee was sentenced to 2 years in prison;
the second officer received 1 year in prison;
the third officer received 1.5 years in prison and 1 year of house arrest;
2 more employees received 1 year of house arrest;
a sixth officer is awaiting sentencing.
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone (since 2020) noted that the company's behavior in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible. Since eBay first became aware of the events of 2019, the company has actively cooperated with law enforcement authorities. Iannone stressed that eBay continues to offer its “deepest apologies” to the Steiners for what they endured.
