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Q: What about ISPs that assign a different IP address for each session, or those that change the IP address each time the modem is rebooted?

A: We use a number of different variables to note what computer you buy and sell from. You won't need to verify your identity as long as you're using your normal computer(s), even if your IP address changes.

how are they going to do this?

With the flash cookies they put on your computer :)

does it mean you can only have one a/c for each computer you have, how many a/cs can you have in the same house,i'm renting so i don't stay more than 1 year in the same address is that o.k?

What amazes me is all the shenanigans. Obviously, EBAY wants to make it more difficult but not impossible.

I have no idea why. They are one step away from making it impossible.

Deleting them will cause you to have to verify your phone number when selling, though. Imagine having to receive a phone call every time you list something on one of a dozen accounts?

I'm thinking separate Windows user accounts (and therefor separate flash cookies) are the way to go. I'm already doing this for all my eBay accounts now, just to be safe.

Modee, did you get any flash cookies planted onto your computer yet that you were able to find with Objection? eBay says they've already started with it, but across 10 accounts I'm selling on I haven't received not even 1 flash cookie. I'm getting them fine on YouTube or Google Video, so I'm sure my flash is working fine.

imjustme: 'm thinking separate Windows user accounts (and therefor separate flash cookies) are the way to go.

I'm doing this also. And in each XP user account a separate AOL account. I am using AOL 7 - I think there was a recommendation on here to use an older version.

But will using AOL 7 be a red flag to EB/PP?

estebanmwt....... God AOL and their 'footprints'. don't you just love how they try to make cookies and web terms more user friendly.

I guess you haven't got many good friends as 'A friend wouldn't let a friend use AOL' well not here in the uk anyway . Maybe good for kids but nought else...IMHO

I thought green bean was joking about your setup before....

Hehe
 

jimbo, Nope I would not joke about how you set up to run your accounts. NWT has an issue with his location & wants to make sure he can work under the radar so to speak.:p So this becomes a learning curve for me as well.

BUT, you can have a laugh on me. I have been reading change MAC address. So I thought how can they do that with a Mac? Until I found out that MAC means Media Access Control. Very different.:eek:

simplyjimbo: Dear Sir; I must take offense at your aspersions on AOL. After Al Gore invented the internet, AOL made the it work!!!

But, like Green Bean said, I have to use it to hide what country i am in.

SO, will using AOL 7 be a red flag to EB/PP?

Hi green bean. I have spent so many years in the IT and Telecoms industries that I forget that everyone here is not a techie...sorry

I think we all have had our moments of laughter due to not knowing about one thing or another. I remember similar laughable moments early in my knowledge too.

hehe
 

jimbo, this is really a hoot for me. I hear these terms, these suggestions and think WTH?;) After all I am after beating ebay/paypal.:eek: So I must learn.

We still need some people who are sellers reporting if eBay has already started placing flash cookies on their machines. Please keep an eye out for them!

One thing we can do is go to the suggestions in ebay and ask for the ability to opt out of this.

I monitor flash cookies on my PC, there are still not.
I guess they will be placed somewhen in May. Because now ebay is just recongnized computers(by http cookies?) from which you're buying/selling usually. After that they will place flash cookies, probably. Very interesting When, at what point they will 'remember' the PC!

And the second. What if the account holder do not use ebay during this period? And started using in Jule! (when the system is activated). They will call Every customer when he/she list 1st time? What if the account holder starts only bidding/buying/paying first? And after that try to sell.. the PC will be remembered already?
Because many ppl have several ebay accounts and they do not ever login there so often. I can imagine now much unwanted calls ebay members will receive!

I am eagerly awaiting the first plant.

As soon as a flash cookie or sol file is planted well lets say I will definitely be ready

Automated Phone Calls....
 

I wouldn't worry people....imagine all the ebay members they would have to call to implement this new 'eBay Rule'. It's "Millions". They would need to hire alot of employees to call their members.....and they are obviosly not going to call everyone....

I think it's going to be more like an automated phone call...If they find that your phone number is disconnected they will probably limit your account until you can confirm your identity.

Or, if you pick up the phone, I'm sure it's going to be like an automated message which just ask's you to confirm your account.

Also, I should mention that about 1 month ago eBay for some reason ended all my listing and blocked my account so I was unable to log into my account. I didn't know what was happening so I contacted eBay through live help and they put me through to another department. The guy then asked me a question about a feedback that I received in March 2007. I answered correctly so he then gave me access to my account again....I think that they will be doing this type of thing also...

Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best...

I'm not technical at all so if this is not what you are looking for feel free to bash away. lol

I just visited the Adobe Flash Settings website Modee posted a couple pages back. At the very top of the list of flash object stored on my pc was something to the effect of:
secure.ebay.com

I deleted the cookie and then went back to ebay, logged in and messed around a few minutes trying to pick up this cookie again. I checked auctions in SMP and revised an auction under the assumption that if they place the cookie when you list maybe they also do it with a revision.

I then went back to the Abode page and there are no cookies listed. I will keep checking back to try to figure out what activity triggers the cookie.

So will this flash cookie link all my accounts that I have logged into with this computer even though I have been anal about keeping cookies cleaned???

eBay Flash cookie is Here
 

I’ve been getting the ebay flash cookies for about 4 days now….since I reported the small blue or white box on the my ebay screen.

Ccleaner is picking it up as a named ebay.sol (name is longer but clearly says ebay at the start)

Objection is installed but not that helpful as it’s not picking up as Ccleaner does.

Also go into your Java settings as eBay are now putting a cookie ? into Java (temp files) disable storing of temp cookies in Java

PLUS eBay are definitely doing something with Java … on 3 of my account’s I can’t upload new pictures & eBays answer was to go into Firefox and then Java to change settings ????? this also started 4 days ago

what i`m gone do?
 

Hi, i have a computer network and i am very worried .I cant` s leave the computer unprotected from cookies,and the bad part of this is that half of my client are ebay users.What i`m gone do>..can u advice me please.:?

Vegas.. if your making any kind of serious money thru Ebay, then what's the problem with purchasing a laptop, roaming internet provider, and pursuing your personal Ebay business there... and in doing so.. erase the worry of networks.. customers etc...

Don't panic.. for ALL problems..there will be an answer..

It gets to be a point of diminishing returns...
 

for some it is reasonable to have multiple routers, multiple computers, etc. dedicated to EBAY. Most aren't here.

For those that are bigger fish in the EBAY pond, it may be worth doing more and more to obscure your identity, but the costs start going up exponentially.

Personally, I have watched my margins get crushed on EBAY to bare minimum. It was just a hobby for me. My wife too, and she loved it, more for the fun than the small profits or what have you.

Now, what you have are workarounds being suggested that could cost hundreds if not thousands. OK, now we are getting stupid. And EBAY could clip those in a heartbeat right after you pay for them.

It is all just getting to be no fun. And that was what EBAY was about.

HI Terry

Well now you have the ebay sol file crack it open and find out what is in it. use an editor to view the contents.

Java too, now that doesn't surprise me,found out some intersting info yesterday regarding sols and java, could be something sinister going on but having a look at the cookie will tell

let us know what you find in the sol

Where did it put the .sol file into? I thought they could only be placed in the Flash directory.

You don't need multiple computers. Just multiple user accounts. Keeps your cookies apart from eachother and keeps you safe :)

I think you may have had something else there. I checked the Macromedia (flash developers) website and they state that flash cookies can only be placed in the flash directory. In Vista, that would be C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player

I found mine in the bedroom drawer...
 

it looked kind of like a red herring at first...

I couldn't be bothered to type it all out but here is a page I found with all that is needed to know where to find the files etc:

Eclectica: Flash Cookies – Finding and deleting

If anyone finds a sol file reverse engineer it,

When on eBay I have flash blocked and java blocked.

With Flash blocked I notice flash all over eBay's site. If you run the flash, then it just puts a white bar on your screen.

There's another thing about Java is sometimes you have to go to the Java website and update it. The Java that comes with MSIE is 10 years old and if you program in a new java version then the old usually can't run it. Like if you program in JRE 1.8 and someone tries to run it on JRE 1.7 then it won't run. Also an unsigned Java applet can't do anything but a signed Java applet can fish through your computer for information including Mac address and computer data (though they need some sort of extention that I forgot and that extention is specific to operating systems so it would work for PCs but not Macs and maybe might not be compatible for Windows Vista vs. XP). Though I don't know all their is about Java.

But anyway, Java temp files if you have installed JRE (java) from their website then you have Java in your windows control panel and you can go there and find temp files. I find those things never get deleted, though I am doubtful a website can access them again.

What we need to do is not block the flash cookies, but work with them so that we don't need to verify via phone every time we list something.

Yeah, but at least they support retards by employing them.

Very funny! Ebay is really getting to be ridiculous.

Thanks for the information everyone. I've been selling on ebay for years and used to have lots of problems with paypal until one of my accounts somehow did not get "limited," unlike every other paypal account I've ever had. This account has worked fine for about a year and a half.

Now I'm starting to have a hard time building up an ebay account and being able to sell with it. Lately I always get suspended after listing one or two items, but hopefully now I can take certain measures to avoid this in the future.

Thanks again!

I would like to mention how Microsoft, for example, tells the difference if you're using a different PC to install their software products on. Bear with me, for I'm trying to explain why I believe eBay won't easily be able to do the same. Say you install Windows on PC1. After it's been installed, you're asked to validate your copy of the software. Let's say, the validation is complete and you're set to use Windows. What happens if your Windows crashes? No problem, you can reinstall it and validate again. The validation routine won't complain. However, if you were to install this copy on a different PC, the validation won't go through. This validation routine actually looks at the hardware component makeup of the original computer you validate your copy on. It communicates that makeup to Microsoft's server and stores it. That's why if you signicantly upgrade your PC, thereby changing the hardware component makeup, even though it's still the "same" computer as far as you're concerned, the validation may fail.

Tracking by way of IP and cookies doesn't require any routines running on your PC to actually scan the underlying hardware and determine its makeup. Applets or other various browser objects can potentially do that, software applications can do that too. Javascript cannot. A scripting language just doesn't have the provision for that. But anything that can actively sit in memory and perform its task until you terminate this process has the potential to access the underlying hardware layer. While you have your browser running with a browser object or applet running as pretty much a browser plugin, it is in memory until you terminate the browser itself. So there is potential (if the capability has been embedded into the object) for being screwed. That's how malware works and that's how some viruses gain access to the windows registry... For ebay to get you like this, it could be done through any software you may allow to be installed. Paypal tool bar, Ebay tool bar, PP plugin or an actual ActiveX component that you've allowed to run on your computer. TurboLister is another example. Anything that's installable (from a technical point of view), with or without your knowledge. So avoid all of the above.

Other than that, it's basically those little email images, IP and cookies.

adventmma, thanks for the explanation. Although I am non-technical, I now understand more than I did.

-- del -- don't need anymore

What happens if we marked that specific directory for ebay Read-Only so the flash object couldn't be written in?

I'm suspended and can't try this but does anyone else want to try?

They're definitely planting them now. I just got my first one this evening. They're called "ebayLSO.sol" and are planted by "secureinclude.ebaystatic.com". The cookie is 156 bytes and has only 1 variable:

Name: token
Type: string
Value: ADSJDUU8nck205k3nfhdkfpsje20db2v10ch2fnd

That's all the content.

And that unique encrypted string ids you...
 

and only you. Pretty cool huh.

My guess is that they also that way identify the users who run multiple accounts. If you have a .SOL file with account1's string and log into account2 with it, they link you.

Bad luck for eBay, though. I just finished creating 20 Windows user accounts, each with their own little directory for flash cookies. Start putting them, eBay. I don't care. :D