As the Boston Globe (opens in new tab) reports (readers may encounter a paywall), James Baugh, former head of safety and security at eBay, was sentenced yesterday to nearly five years in prison for running a bizarre harassment campaign, was sentenced yesterday to nearly five years in prison for running the campaign. Bo is one of seven former eBay executives and senior employees who have pleaded guilty in the case.

I understand eBay as a place to get cheap used PC parts (buyer beware, by the way (opens in new tab)) and ridiculously overpriced collectible big boxes (opens in new tab). In more innocent times, Weird Al Yankovic graced the digital marketplace with his parody song (opens in new tab). And it is a bit shocking to read about the truly gangster-like intimidation campaign masterminded by its executive-level employees.

The Steiners, who publish the online shopping-focused newsletter EcommerceBytes (opens in new tab), published a series of articles criticizing eBay in 2019. Bo and fellow eBay employees proceeded to retaliate, allegedly in response to requests from more senior executives, including then-CEO Devin Wenig.

According to the Guardian (opens in new tab), the Steiners were sent threatening items such as boxes of insects, bloody Halloween pig masks, and funeral wreaths. eBay's team also harassed the Steiners on their sock puppet social media accounts and harassed the couple's neighbors, sent pornography addressed to David Steiner, advertised fake yard sales, etc., and doxxed the couple.

The pinnacle of absurdity, in my opinion, was when Baugh and David Harvill, eBay's former director of global resiliency (who pleaded guilty in May (open in new tab)), allegedly flew to the Steiners' residence near Boston. According to prosecutors, Baugh and Harville intended to put a GPS tracking device on the couple's car, but were thwarted because the garage door was locked.

Bo's side claims that he received instructions from eBay executives, including former CEO Wenig; according to NPR (opens in new tab), Wenig said in regard to one Ina Steiner article, "If you're going to take her down... . now is the time." message to a fellow executive, according to the report.

Wenig is facing a civil lawsuit from the couple, but no criminal charges have been filed regarding the harassment campaign. Wenig resigned from his position in 2019, claiming he knew nothing about the conspiracy.

James Baugh appears to be the most senior eBay employee to face consequences in connection with this case; on September 28, Ina Steiner made a post (open in new tab) on EcommerceBytes referring to this situation, and more senior executives, not just the company itself made it clear that they believe that the company itself, as well as more senior executives, should be held accountable.

"Last year, David and I filed a civil RICO suit against those we believed were responsible for the criminal campaign, including eBay's former CEO, Devin Wenig, CCO Steve Wymer, and eBay itself," Steiner wrote. It was a difficult decision, but one we are confident was the right one."