ReadWriteWeb

Israel makes boycotts illegal. One of the time-tested, non-violent ways in which people have attempted to force grass-roots change is by boycotting the products or services of an entity whose actions they dislike. Now, Israel made such boycotts illegal.

Given how deeply social media is twined into contemporary political action, this makes certain types of online actions as illegal in Israel as they are in non-democratic countries.

Back in February, we covered the first major seller strike on eBay, in which a large group of eBay's PowerSellers launched a week-long boycott of the site in an effort to have their voices heard. The sellers, who were unhappy with recent changes to listing prices and other policies, claimed some success and even USA Today reported a 13% drop in sales. However, eBay denied the boycott had any impact whatsoever on their business. This time the boycott will involve both eBay buyers and sellers, and, unlike the first, no end date has been set.