You shouldn't be able to buy devices that tamper with diesel truck emissions on eBay, says DoJ
- Reference: 1695913206
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/28/you_shouldnt_be_able_to/
- Source link:
eBay said in a [1]statement yesterday positioning itself as a "commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world," that it intends to "vigorously defend itself," adding the "government's actions are entirely unprecedented."
US government, meanwhile, is arguing that the company is responsible for unlawful sales and distribution of products bought and sold on its platform. "Laws that prohibit selling products that can severely harm human health and the environment apply to e-commerce retailers like eBay just as they do to brick-and-mortar stores," said assistant attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[2]
The action is a civil lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn, New York court on behalf of US environmental agency the EPA, which regulates vehicle emissions, among other functions. It accuses eBay of breaching the Clean Air Act (CAA); the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
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Removing emissions controls from a motor vehicle – as DieselGate taught us – can substantially increase how much pollutant it puts out. According to the [5]complaint [PDF], EPA testing found that deleting a motor vehicle's emissions controls can increase the amount of nitrogen oxides coming out the tailpipe by a factor of up to 300 times, tailpipe carbon monoxide by a factor of approximately 130 times, tailpipe non-methane hydrocarbons by a factor of approximately 1,000 times, and tailpipe particulate matter by a factor of up to 37 times.
Particulate matter (PM) is a form of air pollution composed of microscopic solids and liquids suspended in air and is not only emitted directly from motor vehicles, but also formed in the atmosphere from the comb of the emission of other pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) given off by motor vehicles.
[6]
The lawsuit includes screenshots of devices being sold on eBay, including the "2011-2019 Ford 6.7 EGR Delete DPP Delete Kit Package Competition Tuner," which the complaint says was advertised on eBay.com as a "COMPLETE DELETE PACKAGE WITH ALL PARTS NEEDED TO COMPLETELY DELETE YOUR TRUCK."
eBay's lawyers haven't yet filed a response to the lawsuit, but the company said in its press statement yesterday that it had blocked and removed "more than 99.9 percent of the listings for the products cited by the DoJ, including millions of listings each year."
[7]Toyota Japan back on the road after probably-not-cyber attack halted production
[8]The alternative to stopping climate change is untested carbon capture tech
[9]Meet Honda's latest electric vehicle: A rideable suitcase
[10]First US nuclear power plant built this century goes online
US attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said: "eBay's sale of emission control defeat devices, pesticides and other unsafe products poses unacceptable risks to our communities disproportionately impacted by environmental and health hazards. Together with our partners, this office will vigorously enforce federal law against those whose conduct endangers public health and the environment."
Toyota's truck brand Hino admits faking and fudging emissions data for 20 years [11]READ MORE
For those of us who missed it, Dieselgate refers to the 2014/15-era scandal after VW's Diesel Competence unit in the US was found to have been using a software function that enabled its cars to cheat the EPA's emissions tests. The "defeat device" was designed to be able to detect that the car was being tested (basically noting when the wheels were turning but the car wasn't moving) and switch to a lower emissions setting. When the car was running normally, the setting went back to normal, and emissions were measured as being "up to 40 times higher" than the permitted levels. Prosecutors said the software cheat was fitted to 11 million cars.
Besides the defeat devices, eBay is also alleged to have aided in the sale of unlawful, unregistered, misbranded, or restricted use pesticides as well as "prohibited products containing a restricted chemical."
The EPA says in the complaint that it sent eBay a letter asking for more info about the sale and distribution of the products, as well as "eBay's efforts (if any) to address sales not compliant with FIFRA. It says that eBay had responded claiming "it was not subject to FIFRA" and did not provide the requested information.
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The complaint also accuses eBay of distributing over "5,600 items in violation of the TSCA Methylene Chloride Rule."
The justice department is looking for a court order that says eBay's business practices "as an e-commerce retailer" violate the CAA, FIFRA and TSCA – and it also wants the court to stop eBay from further violations of these laws.
As for the Clean Air Act specifically, the lawsuit seeks unspecified civil penalties for the alleged violations. According to legal [13]experts , for most types of violations, the act authorizes fines up to about $103,000 per day, although in settlements this number is rarely reached. In a recent settlement of CAA violations, a recycling company [14]paid $1.55 million, as well as implementing major compliance measures, to settle a case accusing it of releasing ozone-depleting refrigerants from certain items during their processing and disposal. ®
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[1] https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-issues-statement-responding-to-us-department-of-justice-lawsuit/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZRWjIwmalkVaCnux@IXRzAAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRWjIwmalkVaCnux@IXRzAAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRWjIwmalkVaCnux@IXRzAAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/09/28/ebay_complaint.pdf
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRWjIwmalkVaCnux@IXRzAAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/toyota_japan_production_resumes/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/27/climate_change_carbon_capture/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/15/meet_hondas_newest_electric_vehicle/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/01/us_nuclear_reactor_vogtle/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/03/hino_faked_emissions_data/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRWjIwmalkVaCnux@IXRzAAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.huntonak.com/images/content/7/4/v4/74819/what-cos-must-know-about-epa-clean-air-act-penalty-math.pdf
[14] https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/federal-settlement-recycling-company-will-reduce-release-ozone-depleting-refrigerants
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: This from a country
Not forgetting the numerous cults masquerading as 'religions'
Re: This from a country
Is there an actual difference? They're all bullshit illiterate superstitions as far as I'm concerned. US Christians[1] especially all need to die in a fire. In 55 years I've never met one that wasn't a complete holier-than-thou asshole. Hateful hateful people. And they want to control everyone else's lives around them.
[1] edit: they're the only ones I've had direct experience with. Non-US Christians seem to be a more relaxed and sympathetic bunch, but for me that's hearsay.
Re: This from a country
There is no difference between a cult and a religion.
Re: This from a country
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary"
-- Karl Marx
Not our fault the rest of you gave up your rights without a fight.
Re: This from a country
Care to provide evidence of this?
Do you mean that you can order a firearm through a dealer? Are you an American and have you ever actually looked at what is required for this? To do this requires a Federal Firearm License and that means that you have to have a FFL (generally this is a licensed dealer) and, if you are in different states, that means the person selling/shipping has to do it via a FFL dealer and to get it in your state you have to get it from a local FFL dealer.
Stop spouting disinformation.
"government's actions are entirely unprecedented"
That doesn't mean that the action is wrong.
It actually means that the government is reacting to new elements in the world. In a democratic country, that is supposed to be a good thing, no ? Besides, the action is hardly unprecedented. I do believe the government has never been friends with defeat devices of any kind.
In a future where Meta actually becomes a thing, if we find out that kiddie porn is on that platform, I'd think that everyone would be okay with the government stepping in to quash that particularly horrible thing, right ?
The action would still be unprecedented, as far as Meta is concerned.
Not an argument.
Does eBay actually sell anything? I'd expect their argument to be that they're merely a marketplace which puts buyers in contact with sellers, and any accusations of wrongdoing should be directed to them.
This from a country
that has mail order guns ...