eBay said later this month it will change the Sign-In page for the Community forums (Discussion Boards, Chat Boards, Answer Center, and User Groups). The new URL for the Sign-In page for the Community forums will begin with http://signin.ebay.com/. This change will be made on the U.S. and all international sites. Signing in to the Community forums will not sign members into other eBay functions (My eBay, selling, bidding, etc.), even though the Sign-In pages look similar. Members will need to sign in for each area separately, as is true today.

There is speculation in the industry that eBay will eventually shut out third-party vendors who don't participate in its Developers program. Technically every service must be enrolled in eBay's API program to access eBay, but some vendors continue to "scrape" the data. eBay currently allows some certified developers to collect and store users passwords to allow them to act as a proxy for their customers. eBay may be working on a system to avoid third-party storage of passwords.

eBay said it is rolling out the new sign-in function for increased security. Eventually, once the new sign-in function is rolled out across the entire site, members will only have one URL they can sign into: http://signin.ebay.com.

While security is one consideration, limiting eBay access to certified developers could hamper innovation. Many companies launch services before approaching eBay to discuss the Developers program or during negotiations.