Stupid cunts.

Email I just sent to ebay after they just removed my listings for 2 records...again...

" RE Items...
230243565753 - Graveland Fire Chariot Of Destruction A5 Digipak
230243567800 - Nargaroth Geliebte Des Regens DLP BLUE VINYL!!!

Oh for PITY'S SAKE!! HERE WE GO AGAIN!
For the umpteenth time it looks like those over zealous guardians of morality over at German ebay customer support have jumped on me again!

I deliberately listed these items with a message in the item description for them which I have copied below...

"Note for German Ebay Customer Support - This album is not for sale to Germany!! DO NOT REMOVE THIS BECAUSE YOU THINK THERE IS SOMETHING "HATEFUL OR DISCRIMINATORY" ABOUT THIS CD!!! THERE ISN'T!!!! You've done this to me before for no good reason.

Repeat!! I AM NOT SHIPPING THIS TO GERMANY!!!!

NOTE FOR GERMAN CUSTOMERS - SORRY BUT I CANNOT SHIP THIS TO GERMANY. READ ABOVE TO SEE WHY!"

OK, so here's how I imagine they've rejected my listings this time - even with that idiot proof (or so I thought) message it seems my tick boxes for shipping options may have ruined this for me. I ticked shipping to North America, Canada, France, Ireland but Not Germany. A box I did tick was for the "European Union" which I'm aware contains Germany but also contains A LOT OF OTHERS!! Take a look at the removed listings and see just how clear I made it that I WON'T SHIP TO GERMANY.

I have another Nargaroth CD for sale on ebay but I think for this one I didn't tick the European union box and magically it's still for sale. Is this really the key to getting past these ill-informed loons at german ebay?

I'd just like to add that the items I'm selling are in no way right wing or Nazi in any way. I wouldn't own or sell them if they were. The CD and LP contain no inflammatory lyrics or images. If the political beliefs of the artists is in question then that's stepping into new territory for censorship. If an artist doesn't publish his/her views then how can their music (or whatever) be held as evidence that they are the wrong side of the moral high ground?

If the description described in ebay policy about items that "promote or glorify hatred, violence...." is to be upheld 100% then you'll have to remove every single piece of death metal, black metal, war metal and probably Reggae too - That is if the (sometimes, in the case of Reggae) unspoken views of an artist are to be used as evidence of glorifying hatred.

It's pretty well documented that there are many many cases of homophobic sentiment in reggae music which perfectly fits the bill as described in ebay's poilcy. Yet I see plenty of Sizzla, Buju Banton and Elephant Man records for sale on ebay (and to be shipped to Germany no less) when they have very publicly fallen foul of gay rights groups and, in some cases, have been refused entry to perform live in the UK.

Wagner (again, plenty of items for sale on ebay) had right wing and racially intolerant political views that pre-dated the Nazis but performances of his work are enjoyed around the world. According to the German customer support team whether or not he mentions these political views in his work is irrelevant - if "they" say he's bad then he's bad and can't be sold on ebay.

So, you tell me - is it alright to sell possibly hateful or discriminatory goods on ebay if you make sure you don't tick the wrong boxes in the shipping options?

It seems that interpretation of the artists political views is something that people will never agree on so it seems to come down to tick boxes. If I relist my items with no mention of shipping to europe then will I be alright?

And I want my listing fees back - all 99p of them!

Alan Glass.
Again."