Oh crap, see this?

[safeinOhio]

http://www.craigslist.org/about/press/ebay.stake

The deal follows a long courtship of Craigslist by some of the top Silicon Valley venture capitalists and Internet companies, including Yahoo Inc.and Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. EBay said its investment was part of a broader interest in the online classified-advertising market, a potential growth area for the company.
Founded almost ten years ago by San Francisco software engineer Craig Newmark, Craigslist has found a devoted audience among users in the Bay Area, New York and other cities across the U.S., who trawl its listings looking for everything from apartments to second-hand furniture to romantic encounters. While Craigslist is profitable, it has taken an unorthodox approach to doing business, charging only for those services its users deem "appropriate" -- a policy eBay has agreed not to meddle with, according to Mr. Newmark, the company's chairman.

The deal with eBay, financial terms of which weren't disclosed, ends a long hunt for an outside investor that divided Craigslist's small group of shareholders and threatened its nonconformist philosophy. EBay acquired its stake from a former Craigslist executive who was seeking to sell his shares. Mr. Newmark and the Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said in separate messages posted on the Web that they never imagined a stake in Craigslist ending up in the hands of a publicly-traded company. Still, the former Craigslist executive made it clear to the company that he intended to sell his shares and began approaching other parties, including eBay.


How long until they screw Craigslist up?

[Vinca]

1. It's only a matter of time. If there's a buck to be made off the little guy, ebay will get it.

[Duer 157099]

2. Well, considering that article is from 2004...

I'd say it will take a few years

[safeinOhio]

3. update

ebays-dispute-with-craigslist-being-probed-by-us-prosecutors
Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc. said it’s cooperating with a U.S. Justice Department investigation of its dispute with Craigslist Inc.
Prosecutors are investigating whether EBay employees stole confidential information from Craigslist, according to a copy of a grand jury subpoena. The online classified company claims in a lawsuit in state court in San Francisco that EBay stole the information to start a competing online ad site when the two companies were negotiating over EBay buying a stake in Craigslist.

Washington Post