eBay announced last week it will limit the amount of time eBay users can obtain email addresses for trading partners. eBay said it was part of its "ongoing effort to help protect the Community from spoof (also referred to as phishing) and spam emails."

While it's true eBay users are heavy targets of phishing and fraud, and scammers often use auction interference in their attempts to perpetrate fraud, it's also true that communication between buyers and sellers is vital to fostering trust and ensuring smooth transactions.

Later this month eBay will change the My eBay and Member Profile features to display transaction partner email addresses for the past 14 days instead of for 90 days. Users will still be able to contact transaction partners via email for transactions going back 90 days using the Ask Seller a Question and Contact My Transaction Partner features. The new policy could be inconvenient for sellers who don't use an auction-management system that captures their customers' email addresses.

http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/marketing.shtml#2005-02-08095525