Making policies easy to understand
We recognised that some of our policies were hard to understand, so last year we spent several months rewriting our policy pages in straightforward language to make them easier to follow. Now each page includes: a clear statement of the policy and why we have it; examples that illustrate what is and isn't allowed; and a list of the possible consequences of violating the policy. (To learn more, please visit our Policy Hub page.)

Educating members about policies
Understanding eBay's policies helps members have a more positive eBay experience. Last year we focused on creating educational materials on the site designed to help members understand and comply with our policies. We now have five online tutorials available for Intellectual Property & VeRO, Shill Bidding, Fee Circumvention, Feedback, and Search & Browse Manipulation.

These new tutorials only take a few minutes to complete. Each one takes you through the policy details you need to know in order to comply. In 2006, we will also be launching a new comprehensive Marketplace Policy tutorial that covers our important policy areas, such as Keyword Spamming, Fee Circumvention, Feedback, VeRO and more.

Enforcing policy violation consequences and mitigation
A few months ago we changed our PowerSeller eligibility requirements to include new thresholds on policy compliance. As a result, we've removed some sellers who were repeat violators of eBay's policies from the program. This has enhanced the reputation of the program overall. It's also made the marketplace more safe and fair for the vast majority of sellers and PowerSellers who play by the rules.

We're also working on a broader spectrum of consequences we can apply when sellers violate policies that will help change their problematic listing behaviours in a positive way. Until recently, eBay could only warn or suspend accounts. Now we've built some consequence options that encourage education and rehabilitation. We'll be adding new consequences in 2006, which include:

• Restricting repeat policy violators' ability to list items for a period of time – Depending on how often a seller has violated our policies in a 90-day period, they may be required to complete a 15-minute tutorial, or they could be restricted from listing new items for up to 3 days. We think of these consequences as "speed bumps" that can slow accounts down just long enough for them to be educated on the policy. Then they can get back on track.
  
  
• Retaining eBay fees when cancelling a repeat violator's listings for List Practices violations – If a seller repeatedly violates policies in a 90-day period despite previously having taken a tutorial on those policies, we're going to keep their listing and feature fees on subsequent listing cancellations that violate policy. This financial penalty will help to protect the level playing field when our other efforts to educate and change behaviour have failed.

These areas of focus address many of the concerns that we've heard from our Community over the years. Already these changes are having positive results. We've made good progress in the last 6 months, and we look forward to making further improvements in 2006.