Related: Satellite dish ban flouted on Website auction
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- EBay China has announced it will investigate
the auction of illegal satellite dishes on its website.
"Any items that violate our user agreement and Chinese law are prohibited
from our site," a PR spokeswoman from eBay China said on Tuesday.
Local authorities have launched a month-long hunt for illegal satellite dishes that
can receive foreign programs. The Beijing Anti-Pornography and Anti-Piracy Office
will target the production, distribution and installation of unauthorized
satellite dishes and individuals will be fined up to 5,000 yuan (625
U.S. dollars) for installing a satellite dish.
Even after the publicized launch of the campaign, adverts for satellite
dishes were still up and running on Internet auctions sites including
eBay.com.cn.
According to the eBay user agreement, satellite and cable TV descramblers,
animals and wildlife products are prohibited from being sold online.
"We have a system that filters items by picking out key words that indicate they
are prohibited and staff workers monitor the site to find prohibited items that
are left out by filtering," the spokeswoman said.
She explained that since eBay has so many auctions every day, they cannot detect
every prohibited item in a timely fashion. "But we will delete the
postings if our users report them to us and we find it to be true after
investigation."
China's regulation on satellite dishes issued in 1993 prohibits individuals
or work units from setting up satellite dishes to receive foreign programs.
Satellite dishes are legally allowed only in hotels above three stars,
office buildings and apartments that are designed for foreigners.
However, many Chinese people and foreigners who live in Chinese apartment
complexes install dishes for a wider selection of programs.
Satellite dishes sold on on-line auction sites range in price from 1,200 to
7,000 yuan (150 to 875 U.S. dollars) depending on the number of channels
available.
