The auction for a phone number made famous by a 1980s pop song was pulled from eBay on Tuesday. A 1981 song called "Jenny/867-5309" by Tommy Tutone hit #4 on the charts in early 1982. A lawyer posted an auction for the phone number 212-876-5309 on eBay on February 12. One day later, the auction got a mention on ABC's "Good Morning America," and it received a lot of attention on Blogs and in the media in the following days. The phone number was bid up over $80,000 before being removed. It's not clear who took down the auction and why.
A Verizon spokesperson told Newsday that individuals do not have ownership of phone numbers and do not have the right to sell the numbers. eBay's spokesperson could not be reached because offices were closed Tuesday (a bonus day-off for eBay employees as a thank you for their hard work). And a phone call to 212-867-5309 netted a busy signal.
