eBay backs down

Live 8 tickets removed from auction website

14 June 05 - Internet auctioneers eBay have announced that they've blocked all sales of Live 8 tickets, following a withering attack by Bob Geldof. He accused them of acting like "pimps" and profiting from "the poorest people on the planet". More than 100 pairs of tickets had been offered for sale, for more than £500 each, but they've now been withdrawn.

Sir Bob's ire wasn't only directed at the touts themselves who stand to profit from the sales, but eBay itself. The company had promised to hand over its fee for hosting the auctions to aid organisations, but a typically impassioned Geldof told the BBC that wasn't enough.

He said: "What is not acceptable is that a giant electronic company that makes billions upon billions then morally says 'well, we'll just hand over our take to a charity'. Stick your money where it belongs. It is filthy money. It is made on the backs of the poorest people of the planet."

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Pink Floyd will reform for Live 8 on 2 July.

Roger Waters, Dave Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright are all to play - regrouping the line-up that made history with the 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon.

Waters and Gilmour are burying one of rock's most notorious and long-standing feuds.

The pair have not appeared on stage together since touring The Wall album in the early eighties.

It follows persistent rumours for the past year that the band were about to reform to mark the 30th anniversary of their Wish You Were Here album.

There is no suggestion that they plan to make it a studio comeback.

Bassist Roger Waters and guitarist Dave Gilmour fell out over artistic control after making 1979's The Wall, credited widely as being largely a Waters autobiographical project.

Andrew Purcell