Ebay bans Obama inauguration tickets

EBay will not allow tickets for president-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony to be sold on its websites.

The online auction company made the decision after meeting representatives of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, eBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe said.

The head of the committee, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, wants to prevent the sale of tickets to the historic event.

Tickets are supposed to be distributed free through congressional offices, which have been overwhelmed with demand.

EBay is the parent company of listing and sales sites eBay, StubHub and Kijiji.

Early this week StubHub advertised swearing-in tickets for thousands of dollars but the postings had disappeared yesterday.