EBay Inc. has been teaming up with regulators to remove online auctions of potentially unsafe cribs, but eBay itself could become a target if the government proceeds with rules to hold online markets liable for sales of outlawed cribs.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is preparing to write regulations implementing the product safety law that Congress enacted this summer. The law requires the commission to set mandatory safety standards for cribs and bans the second-hand sale of cribs that do not meet the new standards.

At issue for online markets such as eBay and Craigslist is whether they can be fined and penalized when individuals use their services to sell outlawed cribs. The law covers anybody who “manufactures, distributes in commerce or contracts to sell cribs” and those who “otherwise place cribs in the stream of commerce.”

Regulators decline to say whether they envision the liability applying to online auction houses.

“The online auction site is a place where the agency does have an authority,” said Consumer Product Safety Commission spokeswoman Julie Vallese. She added, “The agency will use all of its authorities as appropriate.”

Some House aides involved in developing the product safety law said they did not think that lawmakers intended to apply liability to the online auction companies. Senate aides said they also interpreted the language as applying to individual sellers — and not the auction companies.

Officials from eBay said they do not believe the law allows the company to be liable if an individual sells an outlawed crib on their site. Craigslist chief executive Jim Buckmaster said the company prides itself on responding promptly to inquiries and requests from regulators.

On Oct. 21, eBay halted 19 auctions of children’s cribs at the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s request, to determine if they were among almost 1 million potentially deadly cribs voluntarily recalled that day by the manufacturer, Delta Enterprise Corp. of New York.