eBay announced it will change the method of communication between bidders and sellers on its auction service, introducing changes to its "Email Address Request" and "Ask Seller a Question" features. Beginning in mid-February, members not involved in a transaction with another member will be unable to access their email address. They will have to fill out a form that will be forwarded by eBay to the member. The email will include a note that says, in part: "solicitations to buy or sell items outside of eBay violate eBay rules and are not covered by services that protect members such as feedback, insurance, escrow, and dispute resolution. If this is an offer to buy/sell items outside of eBay, please do not participate." eBay acknowledges in its FAQs that this will make it more difficult for potential bidders to detect shill bidding. The reason cited was to prevent email address harvesting.
http://pages.ebay.com/community/aboutebay/spam-preview.html
