This is a fascinating situation playing out in France, where auction giant EBay is locked in a court battle over sales of high-end perfumes and luggage.

The company, which has a French version of its site, has been sued by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in Commercial Court of Paris.  The court recently found in favor of the French firm, which wants eBay to stop all sales of counterfeit luggage and to halt sales of its perfumes — Christian Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, and Kenzo — by unauthorized distributors.

According to this article at Fortune, the move would effectively stop all eBay sales of those perfumes, since no one is licensed to sell them through the auction site.

EBay, which says it is being asked to do what is technologically impossible, is seeking reprieve from the lower court ruling. Without one, the company could be facing fines up to $80,000 a day until it complies.

EBay says it has taken steps already to reduce the sales of counterfeit goods taking place on its sites. Read more about that here at the New York Times.

Obviously, the legal wrangling matters to anyone who enjoys shopping for certain perfumes and fake Louis Vuitton luggage on eBay. But it goes deeper than that, with other makers of luxury goods surely watching the outcome of this fight.

And it raises the question of just how much power any one country has over the Internet. The court’s ruling applies not only to the French eBay site, but also to any other eBay site accessible from France. If eBay can’t comply with the terms of the court order, will the entire country of France be blocked from eBay’s various worldwide auction sites? Obviously, that would be an extreme step, and one that’s unlikely to occur.