The source of all the fuss?

craigslist filed a countersuit against eBay, challenging the latter’s allegations that craigslist discriminated against eBay as a shareholder, and alleging that eBay used its minority stake in craigslist to steal corporate trade secrets for the launch of Kijiji, MediaBuyerPlanner writes.

The countersuit states eBay engaged in copyright infringement and used misleading ads on Google — designed to look like Craigslist ads — for its Kijiji site. Furthermore, craigslist demands that eBay restore all shares of craigslist owned by eBay, reports Reuters.

eBay sued craigslist in April, arguing the online classifieds leader sought to dilute eBay’s 28.4 percent stake to 24.85, or less than a quarter of the company.

Kijiji.com launched abroad in 2005 and in the US in 2007, at which time Craigslist notified eBay that the US launch was in violation of its agreement, and that its rights to first refusal were no longer in effect, according to PC Magazine.