Craiglist, eBay in court battle

American classifieds site Craigslist and auction centre eBay are facing off in a US courtroom over a dispute regarding shareholder rights.

eBay has accused Craigslist of diminishing its rights as a minority shareholder, and claims founder Craig Newmark and chief executive Jim Buckmaster have acted inappropriately in implementing new measures that dilute its investments.

Craigslist has denied the claims, and has filed a suit of its own saying that eBay “engaged in conduct designed to harm Craigslist, its users, and consumers in California and elsewhere”.

The Craigslist suit is not set to be heard before a jury until 2011.