Italy Sues Amazon For Alleged Abuse Of Market

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Italy’s antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it had fined Amazon 1.13 billion euros ($1.28 billion) for alleged abuse of market dominance, in one of the biggest penalties imposed on a U.S. tech giant in Europe.

Amazon said it “strongly disagreed” with the Italian regulator’s decision and would appeal

Global regulatory scrutiny of tech giants has been increasing after a string of scandals over privacy and misinformation, as well as complaints from some businesses that they abuse their market power.

As well as Amazon, Alphabet’s Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft Corp have drawn heightened scrutiny in Europe.

Italy’s watchdog said in a statement that Amazon had leveraged its dominant position in the Italian market for intermediation services on marketplaces to favour the adoption of its own logistics service – Fulfilment by Amazon  (FBA)- by sellers active on Amazon.it.

The authority said Amazon tied to the use of FBA access to a set of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, that help increase visibility and boost sales on Amazon.it.

“Amazon prevents third-party sellers from associating the Prime label with offers not managed with FBA,” it said.

The Prime label makes it easier to sell to the more than 7 million most loyal and high-spending consumers members of Amazon’s loyalty program.

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