The eBay v Craigslist trial wrapped up in Georgetown, Delaware on Thursday per Judge's order. The revelations were surely fascinating to Silicon Valley as the CEOs and celebrity founders of two ecommerce heavyweights duked it out in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. Judge William B. Chandler, III had had enough by the eighth day, warning the lawyers to wrap it up before the Christmas break.
The Chancellor of the Delaware court also had some advice for the two sides on Thursday as they said their good-byes. According to the Associated Press, the Judge said a resolution worked out by the companies themselves likely would be more acceptable to both sides than what he might decide.
During the contentious trial, private emails were read aloud, including some from Meg Whitman, currently running for governor of California. Barbs were traded, and confidential information was exposed, such as the price tags of eBay's classifieds acquisitions and the names of the other suitors who had vied with eBay for Craigslist stock shares in 2004.
Chancellor Chandler told attorneys that he has an "uncanny ability to make everyone unhappy," but whatever he decides (most likely in the spring), there may be more dirty laundry to be aired, this time in a Bay Area courtroom. Craigslist has sued eBay in California Superior Court for unfair and unlawful competition, false advertising, trademark infringement, dilution and breach of fiduciary duty. A hearing is scheduled for March 5, 2010 in San Francisco County.
eBay released a statement on Thursday through its public affairs and strategic communications firm (below), while Craigslist media consultant Susan MacTavish Best had no comment.
Statement from Mary Huser, eBay Deputy General Counsel on the Conclusion of Testimony in Delaware Chancery Court in eBay Domestic Holdings Inc. v. Newmark et al.
"We are pleased to have presented our case before the Honorable Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, and we look forward to the Chancellor's ruling. We believe the evidence shows that Craigslist's board and controlling shareholders took improper actions in adopting a poison pill, staggered board, and right of first refusal that diluted eBay's stockholdings. eBay is simply asking the Court to rescind those actions and restore the parties' positions to those they agreed to in 2004 as part of a heavily- negotiated shareholders' agreement.
"Throughout the trial, Craigslist lawyers and their witnesses repeatedly attempted to divert attention from Craiglist's unlawful actions by slinging mud at eBay's witnesses, raising irrelevant information about eBay's business activities, and claiming that eBay made undocumented promises - promises that Craigslist admitted in testimony could never be enforced in any court. eBay never made these imagined promises, as the express terms of the legally binding, agreed upon contract make clear. As Craig Newmark, Jim Buckmaster and their lawyer testified at trial, at all times eBay had the absolute right to complete against Craigslist in the U.S. and internationally."
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