[M's_Fan]

From the REA rules:

4. The final day of bidding for all Lots is Saturday, May 1, 2010. Bids may be placed at any time prior to 4:00 PM EDT, May 1, 2010. The auction is scheduled to close at 4:00 PM EDT on May 1, 2010, HOWEVER, we will continue to accept bids after 4:00 PM EDT on all lots in the auction until approximately 15 minutes pass without either a phone or internet bid. IF YOU HAVE NOT BID ON AN ITEM BEFORE 4:00 PM, YOU CANNOT BID ON IT AFTER 4:00 PM. To ensure that everyone can get through to bid, we will remain open for bids until approximately fifteen minutes pass without a bid. If the line is busy, we are still accepting calls. This system is designed to reward bidders, not the person who can stay up the latest. If the auction continues to as late as 11 P.M. EDT on May 1, 2010, Robert Edward Auctions reserves the right to close the auction, at its sole discretion, at any time. We recommend bidders leave maximum left bids utilizing Robert Edward Auctions’ “Honest Auto-Bid” system to avoid disappointment. There will be no warning as to exactly when we will close the auction should bidding continue past 11:00 P.M. EDT. We do not anticipate the auction to remain open past 2:00 A.M. EDT (technically the morning of May 2, 2010). This closing system is designed to reward bidders, and eliminate all strategies which needlessly encourage the auction to remain open many hours into the following day, potentially giving an advantage to bidders who have the ability to stay up the latest. When the auction is over, callers will be greeted with a message informing them that the auction is over, and a message will also appear on our website stating that all bidding is closed. All lots remain open for bidding until the close of the entire auction. All lots are closed simultaneously.

In my opinion the flaw in this system is what it says in the last two sentences:

lots remain open for bidding until the close of the entire auction. All lots are closed simultaneously.

To avoid the all night bidding, all you would have to do is, after the close time of 4PM, close each individual lot after 15 minutes pass without bidding. Only the lots where active bidding was taking place would remain open.