Judge bars Bidder's Edge Web crawler on eBay Content Integrity6/8/2000; 7:22:28 AM 'In his ruling, Whyte scoffed at the broader implications of the lawsuit. "The parties submit a variety of declarations asserting that the Internet will cease to function if (they lose the dispute)," Whyte wrote. "The court suspects that the Internet will not only survive but continue to grow and develop regardless of the outcome of this litigation."'If every court says that, the court suspects incorrectly. Consider earlier in the article this pronouncement from the judge:'"It is undisputed that eBay's server and its capacity are personal property, and that Bidder's Edge's searches use a portion of that property," Whyte wrote in his order. "Even if its searches use only a small amount of eBay's computer system capacity, Bidder's Edge has nonetheless deprived eBay of the ability to use that portion of its personal property for its own purposes. The law recognizes no such right to use another's personal property."'Well... that certainly has far-reaching consequences considering the alternative, that Bidder's Edge could force E-Bay to allow them to search as they liked.The ruling is probably correct overall, considering the alternative, but the judge's religious faith in the abilities of the Internet is disturbing. In a judge, such faith is self-un-fulfilling.