I used to use AS quite a bit to get the items I was bidding on from eBay but I took some time off 'cause I was spending WAY too much money.
So, now I've started to bid on items again on eBay and low and behold, I've discovered that AS doesn't appear to work with eBay anymore: I received the same frustrating message that all of you have regarding "account verification" and have missed several auctions today because of it.
I've read through this forum and I'm of the belief that this issue is being generated by eBay on purpose.
I placed a manual bid on an item that I did not want the chance of losing and found it quite interesting that, after I confirmed my bid, I was presented with a "ad" to download the "eBay app" to stay on top of the auction and be able to rebid at a moment's notice.
I think eBay is trying to block out the snipping bots and force people to use the eBay app instead. Since most people have smart phones now, I can see eBay justifying this behavior by claiming that with the app, bidders can be involved in the auction process even when they're not in front of their computers. While claiming to give bidders "more access" this move, in my opinion, is to drive up final bid prices as many have speculated in this forum.
I would be interested in what a lawyer would have to say about a class action suit as, I suppose from a business aspect, that eBay is not required to allow 3rd party software to interact with their website regardless of what the user wants.
I think the whole topic would be new territory to explore from a legal and net neutrality point of view.