Louisiana legislators love eBay, thanks to powerful lobby

"I think eBay is great!" one Louisiana state senator told the New York Times. Another smiled broadly while voting for Louisiana Senate Bill 642, which exempted eBay and other internet businesses from law requiring licenses for auctioneers. It's just one indication of eBay's powerful lobbyists, working hard from California to Baton Rouge to make sure its sellers don't have to follow rules meant for pawn brokers, ticket scalpers and auction houses (despite its description of its services as "auctions").

The company, protecting its $500 million in quarterly listing fees, is acting in what the Times calls a "savvy, resourceful," "remarkably successful," "grass roots" and "not shy" manner to stop adverse legislation. Interestingly, the company uses email missives much like the one Meg Whitman sent on Friday, but on a more localized level, to engage its users in the fight against restrictive legislation.

Still more intriguing is the company's stance on legislation meant to reduce fraud on its site; according to the Times, eBay opposes anti-fraud regulations as the company "sees its online community as self-regulating."