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EBay parts ways with controversial political group ALEC

An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California May 28, 2014. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach

By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Ebay Inc said on Thursday that it will end its association with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a political group that other tech companies dropped earlier this year due to its views on climate change. "After our annual review of eBay Inc's memberships in trade associations and third party organizations we've decided not to renew our membership with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)," an eBay spokeswoman said. Critics fault ALEC, a coalition of state lawmakers and companies, for promoting measures to deny the existence of climate change, defund public services, oppose Internet neutrality and limit workers' protections. In September, Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, said his company wanted out because ALEC was "literally lying" about climate change. Yahoo Inc, Facebook Inc and Yelp Inc left ALEC soon after. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Leslie Adler)