eBay sent an email announcement to registered users late last week notifying them that changes had been made to the company's User Agreement and Privacy Policy. The notice said the changes had been made and were "based upon suggestions from our users" and would "accommodate future site improvements."

eBay changed the "Introduction" section of the User Agreement to reflect eBay's international corporate structures and relationships. eBay made minor modifications to the "Access and Interference," "Breach" and "Privacy" sections.

The biggest change was made to the section called "Resolution of Disputes." eBay said it "took a hard look at the various ways to resolve disputes and decided that we wanted to provide our users with as many options as possible. As you can see, in addition to arbitration, we now offer you the ability to mediate as well as appear in court should you choose."

eBay's subsidiary PayPal modified its User Agreement in February, adding a new section called "Legal Disputes" consisting of 4 subsections. The section replaced a one-paragraph section in the previous agreement called "Arbitration."

The move came months after a federal judge said PayPal's mandatory arbitration policy was unfair to customers who complain their accounts are being mishandled and that it was unfair to require customers to travel to Santa Clara County for arbitration

Related Links:

Revised User Agreement http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-user.html

User Agreement FAQ: http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/uarevision3-faq.html