Music

eBay bans the sale of Burzum merchandise

by Tyler Munro

Varg Vikernes is a reprehensible windbag, who in the time since breaking into the black metal scene as Burzum has made as much of a name for himself as a musician as a church burning murderer. His list of offences is as long as that documentary he made about magic bears—the stabbing, the prison escape, the alleged terrorist plot… the all Casio-keyboard albums.

But aside from the terrible things Varg the person has done, his music remains a landmark in the genre.

His three best full lengths, all recorded within a year of one another, are three of black metal’s most important. Problem is, it’s getting harder than ever to buy them. According to MetalSucks, eBay has banned the sale of classics like Hvis lyset tar oss, citing Vikernes’ propensity to promote hatred, violence and intolerance under its Offensive Material Policy.

It’s no stretch to call Burzum out as a bigot. But is eBay taking a leap here? Burzum merchandise is, for the time being, still available on the site, but that’s apparently soon to change.

A MetalSucks reader first discovered the ban when he tried to list two Burzum albums online. After getting a notice explaining why he couldn’t sell them, he called eBay support, who confirmed that the ban was real.

There is precedent for this move: In 2005, “White Power” punks Skrewdriver were banned from the site. When Negative-Feedback dug into their customer service, the response was blanket: We no longer permit the band “Screwdriver” music to be listed on eBay due to the offensive material contained within it. In 2007, the ban was reinstated, drawing the ire of popular racist message board Stormfront. Today, a search for the band yields countless albums and more than a few variations of their notorious, Reichsadler stealing t-shirt.

There are other examples. Under eBay’s offensive materials policy, Mein Kampf is restricted to countries outside of Germany, France and other countries that prohibit Nazi-related materials, but it is still nonetheless widely available. eBay also bans items related to serial killers, specifically “items glorifying serial killers” or “letters or artwork crated by serial killers or violent felons.” Their policy doesn’t allow novelty items relating to killers and, officially, bars sellers from listing O.J. Simpson’s bizarre If I Did It. But a quick search reveals pages upon pages of Charles Manson material, including but not limited to his album, Lie: The Love and Terror Cult.

On Reddit, someone claiming to be a former eBay employee says the company also bans material by national socialist black metal band Absurd. A quick search shows that isn’t entirely true.

So while it’s hard to verify the Burzum ban at this point, it’s not unlikely. Especially if the seller was based in France. Ultimately, it comes down to enforcement: It’s likely that if eBay is taking a stand, they’re doing it now, while Vikernes is making headlines for his massive fine and sentencing. It’s likely that they’re cracking down to hold people from profiting on the controversy and it’s likely that while the policy won’t change, their diligence in honouring it eventually will.