EBay, the world's largest Internet auctioneer, is jubilant after winning one of their many lawsuits regarding counterfeit products. A French court found that eBay was not liable for counterfeit L'Oreal perfumes sold on its website. The Parisian court ruled that eBay had met its obligantion to prevent sales of fake goods. The victory is a bit of a surprise considering earlier losses in France to Hermes and LVMH in similar cases however eBay did recently win against watchmaker Rolex.

After the ruling eBay issued a press release saying in part that " We are delighted that eBay's meaningful efforts to fight counterfeits online have been recognized by the court, as has our status as an internet-hosting provider. Today, 99% of all items listed on eBay have no suspicion of counterfeits." That''s a pretty bold claim. The auction site does have a team of around 2,000 people in place to fight counterfeit products on the site but it seems a bit soon to declare a total victory in the war against counterfeits.

Sad but true: the recession has hit the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in the South of France next month, an international symbol of glamorous excess. Cutbacks are being made everywhere, from ritzy parties to the type of food being served, the AFP tells us. For starters, Vanity Fair has canceled its annual star-studded party, the social highlight of the festival, while the VIP nightclub Jimmy'z lost two key sponsors, Fendi and Swarovski, and Louis Vuitton said it would skip AmFar's big-ticket AIDS charity fundraiser.

"We're experiencing an unprecedented world crisis and it's also affecting the Riviera and Cannes," says Michel Chevillon, head of Cannes' hotel association. "Companies are sending fewer people, for shorter periods." 70% of the area's hotels have frozen their room rates compared to last year, and many are taking bookings for less than the full 12-day period, something normally unheard of at festival time, Chevillon tells the AFP.

Overall attendance at the festival is expected to be down for the first time in decades. "People are afraid it will hurt their image to be seen in a place associated with wealth," Cannes deputy mayor David Lissnard tells the AFP. Yacht charters are also suffering, as brokers struggle to find clients in Cannes' port, where all 60 berths for megayachts were booked up in anticipation. "There's a lot less demand this year for yacht rentals and a lot of pressure on prices," says broker Valerie Ruiz, who rents out yachts up to 200-ft. for the festival.

A recent article in Variety reported that the beginning of Hollywood awards season has seen a decline in swag. The luxury gifting suites are finding less vendors eager to pay the fees and part with the free stuff in order to get a picture of a star posing with their product. Part of this is that both the stars and the vendors are not certain that this type of publicity will have the same impact it used to. To adjust to current times, vendors are teaming up with charities so that all that gifting will end up having a more positive result. This move is also designed to alleviate celebrity guilt about accepting the freebies. The Golden Globe Awards take place tomorrow night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and a number of gifting suites are scheduled for this weekend.

One piece of swag is a definite, a gemstone compact created for the Golden Globe nominees for best actress in a drama and best actress in a comedy. The compact was created by L'Oreal and jewelry maker Carelle. The compact includes lemon citrine and pale-green quartz stones in an 18-karat yellow gold setting with diamond details. One compact will be auctioned off on eBay.com during the Golden Globes show to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.

Liliane Bettencourt (right), daughter of the man who founded cosmetics giant L'Oréal, tops Forbes' just-released list of the richest women in Europe with a fortune of $22.9 billion. That astounding figure also makes her the world's richest woman, the magazine notes. Bettencourt, whose father's reputation has occasionally come under fire, uses her money to fund a charitable foundation which supports medical research, cultural projects and humanitarian relief.

At the No. 2 spot on the Euro list is Swedish citizen Birgit Rausing, a packaging heiress with an estimated fortune of $14 billion, while No. 3 is BMW and pharmaceuticals heiress Susanne Klatten, with $13.2 billion. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling meanwhile is in last place at No. 22, barely making the list with a measly $1 billion. It's worth noting that Germany has the most female billionaires of any European nation, with nine of them living within its borders. You can see a gallery of the loaded ladies here.