Etsy seems like it just can't catch a break pretty much since its IPO. There's the whole counterfeiting deal, a falling share price (now below the IPO), upset store owners over new policies and now this. I'm looking forward to seeing how Amazon handles their launch of a similar market.
If the problem is just the wording, what's the big deal? Just change the description of the item by removing the part that advertises it as a cure for this or that illness. The witches' claim that spells are the same as prayers and that therefore this is a case of religious discrimination falls apart when one considers that: So this has nothing to do with faith, it's a matter of regulations that affect everyone equally. Slightly off-topic: I can't believe there are witches and priestesses making money by selling magic spells. I wonder if you have to get some kind of license and pass a test before you can call yourself a witch, or if having a tumblr page is all the requirement you need.But the FTC draws the line at objective claims: specific promises for specific, measurable, tangible results.
In 2007, the FTC took action against Daniel Chapter One, a so-called “health & healing ministry” that sold herbs and other “Biblical remedies” for cancer. Despite the company’s insistence that it was faith-based — their Web site still describes them as ministers who oversee a “home church” — the couple behind it was indicted on a string of misdemeanors last year, largely related to the claims about cancer.
I don't know, I seem to remember that in Harry Potter they had some kind of department whose job was to punish unauthorised uses of magic. I wouldn't want crazy women to start showing up at my doorstep and curse me in languages I don't even understand. How would I explain it to my neighbours?