The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: July 3

Knocking eBay's Knock-Off Block Off

Here at The Five Dumbest Things research lab, when we want a good guffaw, we take a look at the French and their business practices.

We had a few laughs Monday when a French court ruled that eBay(EBAY Quote) was found to have aided in selling counterfeit goods passed off as none other than LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

The ruling, which eBay is appealing, gives LVMH 40 million euros ($63 million) for the auction site's failure to ensure that it took the necessary steps to ensure that the goods were legit.

Luxury-goods makers have fought for years against knock-offs, but if any of them believe the ruling in France is a milestone for them, they should recork the Champagne and reconsider. Counterfeiters will do what they have always done, peddle their wares along every street corner and throughfare.

The trouble, which doesn't seem to bother the Frogs, is that LVMH and other luxury-goods makers, including The Gucci Group(GUCG.PK Quote) and Burberry(BBRYF.PK Quote), will find it much more onerous to police these venues.

But far be it from us to deny the French an excuse for a party. Among the prime revelers, LVMH. "It is a major first, because of the principles that it recognizes and the amount sought," according to a spokesperson for LVMH, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Actually, it wasn't a first at all. The ruling comes following an order for eBay to pay Hermès International 20,000 euros (US $31,400) for a similar infraction.

Meanwhile, the fine won't dent eBay, which boasts almost $8 billion in annual revenue, although some legal experts were pondering that the two judgments could set a precedent and allow other retailers to follow the French lead.

Now, that may be something the French may want to note in their revelry. It's been a while, we think, since the French led in anything. Can you say Napoleon?

Dumb-o-meter score: 91. Things are clearly different in France.