French court fines Ebay over fake goods

EBAY has been fined nearly ú31m by a French court for not doing enough to stop counterfeit goods being sold on its site.

But the online auction site has said the legal wrangle is less about counterfeit goods and more about manufacturers protecting their sales channels. The online auction site has been ordered to pay more than ú15m to Louis Vuitton Malletier and more than ú12m to Christian Dior Couture, both brands owned by the LVMH group. Ebay was ordered to block sales through its site of genuine bottles of perfume made by Christian Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy and Kenzo - four LVMH brands.