German watchdog launches new investigation into Amazon

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: German watchdog launches new investigation into Amazon

Amazon

Germany's anti-trust authority has launched an investigation to Amazon and Apple over potential anticompetitive behaviour, German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily has reported.

Amazon bans some third party dealers on its own e-commerce platform from providing certain branded products, and also Germany's Federal Cartel Office is investigating if this complies with German law.

Amazon reported that it is cooperating with the German authorities, adding it always invests to guard its store from illegitimate goods.

Apple and the Federal Cartel Office were not immediately available for comment.

The agreements can provide protection against product piracy. But, bans of third party dealers must "comply with the principle of proportionality and must not lead to the elimination of competition," Mundt said.

The most obvious example is Amazon's cooperation with mobile phone maker Apple, which just Apple dealerships and Amazon can offer on the stage, he explained.

The new probe into Amazon's treatment of third party traders comes after Germany's competition watchdog in August launched an investigation of whether Amazon affects traders' price-setting on its market.

Germany is Amazon's second-biggest market following the US. In Germany, third party traders accounted for 65% of sales in March to May 2020.

This past year, Amazon reached a deal with the German ability to overhaul its terms of service for third-party merchants, prompting the office to fall some seven-month investigation.

The team at Platform Executive hope you have enjoyed this news article. Initial reporting via our official content partners at Thomson Reuters. Reporting by Arno Schuetze. Editing by Cynthia Osterman.

To stay on top of the latest developments across the platform economy and gain access to our problem-solving tools, databases and comprehensive content sets, you can subscribe for just $19 per month.

This news article was published by Platform Executive, the home of the platform economy.

If you enjoy the content then please post a link on your website, or post on social media to help us get the word out.



German watchdog launches new investigation into Amazon posted first on https://www.platformexecutive.com/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

4 tips for bouncing back from a business hardship

The 6 best resources to learn about database management

Google, Facebook agreed to team up against possible antitrust action, draft lawsuit says