It doesnt build a lot of confidence in an online site if you know you are bidding against bots/shill bidders.
Since we are not talking about pennies here, rather tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars im guessing it will only be a matter of time before:
A. The feds catch on
B. Daily paper shows tons of boxes being carried out of their headquarters
C. The two sides announce a (steep) payment from auction.com that doesnt admit to wrong doing but promises to clean up their act