Amazon is exempt from a billion-dollar fine due to agreements with Brussels | Technology
The European Commission has signed a deal with Amazon. Among other things, the online store has no data from other sellers that could use more to improve its own brands. The company thus avoids a possible billion-dollar fine.
The Commission’s concerns included the use of data from sellers who sell their products on the platform. Amazon would counterfeit products that sell well under its own brand. The company magnifies the information that can no longer be collected.
Amazon will also treat all sellers on its sites equally with regard to the ‘buy box’. That is the white panel at the zoom of the screen that the consumer has to click on if he wants to place an item in his digital shopping cart. There is only room for one provider in the purchase box. Amazon would have favored sellers there who used the company’s hydraulic services.
Amazon would also have made an unfair distinction with Amazon Prime, a subscription service that offers you faster shipping for a fee, among other things. Third-party sellers who sold their products through this service could not choose their own carrier. Now that is allowed.
Most pledges are valid for five years, and some for seven years. The European Commission has laid down the commitments and made them binding so they can keep the company. If Amazon does not comply with the agreements, Brussels can immediately impose a fine.
The executive board of the European Union, which ensures that companies act fairly, opened an investigation into Amazon in 2019. The company faced a fine of 10 percent of its subsequent annual turnover.