Former eBay exec who harassed and spied on bloggers is going to prison
As reported by the Boston Globe(opens in new tab) (readers may encounter a paywall), James Baugh, the former head of safety and security at eBay, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison yesterday over his execution of a bizarre harassment campaign against bloggers David and Ina Steiner. Baugh is one of seven former eBay executives and high level employees to plead guilty in relation to the case.
I mostly understand eBay as a place to get cheap second hand PC parts (buyer beware, by the way(opens in new tab)) or even absurdly overpriced collectible big boxes(opens in new tab). In a truly more innocent time, Weird Al Yankovic graced the digital marketplace with one of those darling parodical songs of his(opens in new tab). It's a bit shocking then, to read about the truly gangsterish intimidation campaign its executive-level employees masterminded.
The Steiners, who publish an online shopping-focused newsletter, EcommerceBytes(opens in new tab), put out a series of articles critical of eBay in 2019. Baugh and his fellow eBay employees proceeded to retaliate, allegedly in response to the demands of even more senior executives, including then-CEO Devin Wenig.
According to The Guardian(opens in new tab), the Steiners were sent threatening items like boxes of insects, a bloody Halloween pig's mask, and a funeral wreath. The eBay team also harassed the Steiners with sock puppet social media accounts, sent pornography addressed to David Steiner to the couple's neighbors, and even doxxed the couple, advertising fake yard sales and the like.
The apex of absurdity, for my money, was when Baugh and eBay's former director of global resiliency, David Harville (who pled guilty back in May(opens in new tab)) allegedly flew across
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