Digital Download Auctions?

Ebay adds digital download music sales

Online auction giant eBay Inc. will allow some customers to buy and sell digital music files as part of a pilot program that could piggyback on the success of Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes service. San Jose, Calif.-based eBay said an unspecified number of “preapproved” users could conduct digital music transactions in eBay’s new “Digital Downloads” category for the next 180 days. Executives will then determine whether to formally enter the market. “We don’t want to blow this out of proportion — this is a pilot program to see if there’s even any demand,” said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. “Much of what happens on eBay happens because the community takes us there, and this is essentially giving the community a way to see if we should create this new venue.” The experiment, announced this week in a posting on eBay’s Web site, reverses a longstanding policy at the world’s largest auction company. (From HollywoodReporter.com & AP)