Interesting news story on Associated Press today. Women are making gains as miners despite difficult working conditions and once being outright banned from employment.

Women work alongside men in some mines. In a few mines that are owned by women, it's women-only.

Any lawyers here? A quick Google search showed a licensed Texas auctioneer may lose their license if they permit shill bidding. But that tells us nothing about internet auctions. I have no idea if internet shill bidding is illegal.

We're all observing the same bidding practices but hold different opinions about the cause. I don't think there's any way to know if the winning bids are paid for or not. Auction shilling probably started with the world's first described auction (an auction of women available as wives in 500 bc!). I...

I see no benefit to ShopLC to have employees compete with customers on auctions. Perhaps if their computer programs catch a missing item, or incorrectly described item, or some kind of problem, -- this is an easy (cheap) way to close an auction "quietly."

It's a serious ethical issue -- and a slippery slope. My recent reviews describing a specific product problem were not posted. When customers know they can't trust one aspect of a business, soon they start questioning everything. And eventually stop buying. Not posting a customer's review says we do...