They Were Terrorized by a Tech Company. When Will They See Justice?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/technology/ebay-documentary-scandal-whatever-it-takes.html

https://archive.ph/0ceOa

They Were Terrorized by a Tech Company. When Will They See Justice?
A newly available documentary, ‘Whatever It Takes,’ examines eBay workers’ plot to cyberstalk journalists and critics.
By David Streitfeld
July 13, 2026

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In 2019, eBay executives decided that a news site and message board for eBay sellers was trouble. The site, EcommerceBytes, would point out inconvenient facts, like that the chief executive earned 152 times the salary of the average worker.

There are many ways to shut someone up. You can buy them off or just buy them. Persuade them of the error of their ways. Unleash the lawyers. Pretty much immediately, employees at eBay settled on a solution to the problem of Ina and David Steiner, the suburban Massachusetts couple running EcommerceBytes. How about we terrorize them?

You may remember the case. Top eBay personnel, including the chief executive, told subordinates they wanted the Steiners dealt with. James Baugh, the company’s head of security, led a group of mostly young female employees that attacked the Steiners so thoroughly that the couple says they have never really recovered. Mr. Baugh’s team sent them offensive and suggestive items, hounded them on social media and stalked them at home.

Death was the dominant message. EBay’s people sent the Steiners a funeral wreath. A copy of “Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Spouse.” A bloody pig mask worn by killers in the “Saw” horror movies.

To be threatened is bad enough; to be threatened anonymously is much worse. The Steiners had no clue who hated them this much. They piled up baking pans on a laundry cart at the back door so an intruder would make a noise. They slept in separate beds so one would survive an attack long enough to call the police.

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