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European Union Hits Amazon With Antitrust Charges, Alleges Company Uses Data To Gain Unfair Advantage

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European Union Hits Amazon With Antitrust Charges, Alleges Company Uses Data To Gain Unfair Advantage

European Union regulators filed antitrust charges against Amazon Tuesday for allegedly using its internal, non-public data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants who sell products on the company’s marketplace.

The European Union’s (EU) Executive Commission filed the charges Tuesday, which represent the culmination of an investigation into Amazon opened in July 2019, according to a press release. In addition to the antitrust charges, the commission announced it will begin a second investigation into Amazon’s implementation of rules that may artificially favor its own products.

“Both investigations into Amazon’s business practices focus on competition concerns that are crucial in today’s platform economy where more and more businesses depend on dominant platforms, and where more and more consumers use these platforms’ services,” EU Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“It is the role of competition law enforcement to keep these markets open and to ensure undistorted competition,” Vestager said. (RELATED: REPORT — Justice Department To File Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google)

European Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager gives a press conference on an anti-trust case concerning Amazon on Tuesday. (Olivier Hoslet/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The commission alleged that Amazon, which has both a role to provide an e-commerce marketplace and a role to sell its own products, uses information it obtains about third-party sellers to bolster its own products, according to Tuesday’s press release. Such information includes third-party sellers’ number of ordered and shipped units of products, revenues and number of visits to sellers’ offers.

Amazon uses its non-public data to avoid the “normal risks of retail competition,” the press release said. The American e-commerce giant specifically leverages this practice in France and Germany, Amazon’s two largest markets in the EU, the commission alleged.

“Data on the activity of third party sellers should not be used to the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor to these sellers,” Vestager said. “The conditions of competition on the Amazon platform must also be fair. Its rules should not artificially favor Amazon’s own retail offers.”

Vestager added that the EU is not concerned with the size of Amazon, but its “very specific business conduct.” (RELATED: Apple Developing Search Engine As Google Comes Under Antitrust Scrutiny: Report)

The second investigation is into Amazon’s “buy box” feature, according to the press release. This investigation will also look into, which retailers receive the “Amazon Prime” label.

The “buy box” feature enables Amazon users to either buy a product immediately or add it to their shopping cart, according to RepricerExpress. However, Amazon chooses which retailer gets to sell the product, since the user doesn’t have a choice when using the feature.

“We will look into the potential effects of the rules set by Amazon for the Buy Box and for the Prime program,” Vestager said. “We want to make sure that the sellers that do not use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services also have a chance to compete on the merits on Amazon’s platform.”

Vestager has led the EU’s charge against Google, which it has hit with about $10 billion in fines, according to The Associated Press. The EU is also investigating Apple for antitrust violations.

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European Union files antitrust charges against Amazon over use of data

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European Union files antitrust charges against Amazon over use of data

LONDON — European Union regulators filed antitrust charges Tuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data from companies that sell products on its platform to gain an unfair advantage over them.

The charges, filed two years after the bloc’s antitrust enforcer began looking into the company, are the latest effort by European regulators to curb the power of big technology companies. Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition issues, has slapped Google with antitrust fines totaling nearly $10 billion and opened twin antitrust investigations this summer into Apple. The EU’s executive Commission also opened a second investigation Tuesday into whether Amazon favors product offers and merchants that use its own logistics and delivery system.

While the U.S. initially criticized the EU for targeting American companies, it has more recently started taking a tougher line on big tech as well, suing Google this year for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising.

The EU investigation found that Amazon is accessing and analyzing real-time data from other vendors that sell goods on its platform to help it decide which new products of its own to launch and how to price and market them. That “appears to distort genuine competition,” Vestager said.

Investigators focused on that practice in France and Germany, the company’s two biggest markets in the EU, but Vestager didn’t give specific examples of merchants affected by Amazon’s behavior.

The stakes have risen for retailers as many European countries have shut nonessential shops temporarily to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic, pushing more shopping online, where Amazon is a major presence.

Amazon faces a possible fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue. That could amount to as much as $28 billion, based on its 2019 earnings. The Seattle-based company rejected the accusations.

“We disagree with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts,” the company said in a statement, adding that it represents less than 1% of the global retail market and that there are bigger retailers in every country where it operates. Under EU rules, it can reply to the charges in writing and present its case in an oral hearing.

It could still be a while before a final decision as there are no deadlines for bringing an EU antitrust case to an end.

Vestager said that an analysis of millions of transactions and products listed on Amazon’s site found that “very granular, real-time business data” on third-party product listings and transactions was fed into algorithms for Amazon’s retail business that decide which new products to launch, their price and supplier.

Ordinary retailers take risks when they invest heavily to find new products, bring them to market and decide how much to sell them for, Vestager said.

“Our concern is that Amazon can avoid some of those risks by using the data it has access to,” she told reporters at a briefing in Brussels.

The preliminary conclusion, she said, is that by using the data Amazon can focus on the best-selling products, “and this marginalizes third-party sellers and caps their ability to grow.”

The EU’s second investigation will look at the criteria Amazon uses to decide which seller’s product gets chosen for the “buy box” and for its Prime membership service, and whether that means they get preferential treatment by the company’s logistics and delivery services.

The “buy box” lets shoppers add items directly to their shopping baskets. It features a single seller’s product even though multiple merchants might offer the item.

The second investigation excludes Italy because the country’s competition watchdog has already launched a similar probe last year.

Compromise on long-term EU budget:EP obtains €16 billion more for key programmes | News | European Parliament

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Compromise on long-term EU budget:EP obtains €16 billion more for key programmes | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201106IPR91014/

New WHO dashboard quantifies and visualizes European countries’ COVID-19 measures

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New WHO dashboard quantifies and visualizes European countries’ COVID-19 measures

WHO/Europe has just launched its Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) Severity Index to provide standardized data on the ways in which countries in the WHO European Region have sought to slow or stop community spread of COVID-19. This latest tool systematically captures and analyses individual governmental PHSM responses to COVID-19 in the 53 countries of the Region.

“Public health and social measures often work together and should be considered in view of the larger COVID-19 response,” explains Ihor Perehinets, Programme Area Manager, Country Health Emergency Preparedness and IHR. “This tool is a first in WHO. By presenting epidemiological data and governments’ PHSM interventions, we trust that it will strongly inform countries’ efforts in further strengthening their response to the pandemic.”

The PHSM Severity Index is integrated into WHO/Europe’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which allows quick visualization of the most up-to-date COVID-19 statistics and information pertinent to each country in the Region. It captures 6 types of public health measures: the wearing of masks; closure of schools; closure of offices, businesses, institutions and operations; restrictions on gatherings; restrictions on domestic movement; and limitations to international travel.

These indicators represent common, restrictive large-scale interventions taken by a significant number of countries throughout the Region. The scope, severity and timing of their implementation is also aggregated to produce a composite PHSM Severity Index score, which is an average of these 6 indicators.

This level of analysis enables a comparison of individual public health measures within a country as well as overall responses across countries. It also allows for the nuances of each individual government’s actions to be analysed and understood. Common PHSM strategies, outliers and emergent patterns can be seen through a regional-level analysis and these insights, supported by country-specific examples, provide a comprehensive overview to inform policy-making.

Countries are implementing packages of measures calibrated to the local context and epidemiology of the disease. These measures help to stop chains of transmission and prevent outbreaks and are therefore critical in limiting the further spread of COVID-19 at the community level.

A video of Cardinal Tumi during his captivity has emerged – Vatican News

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A video of Cardinal Tumi during his captivity has emerged - Vatican News

Paul Samasumo – Vatican City

Armed separatists in Cameroon’s restive northwestern region abducted Christian Wiyghan Cardinal Tumi as he made his way from Bamenda to Kumbo on 5 November. He was eventually released the following day.

A short 05.47 minutes video, seen by Vatican News, is currently circulating on social media. The video shows the ninety-year-old Cardinal Tumi, who is the Archbishop Emeritus of Douala, being interrogated by his captors while in captivity. Below are excerpts from the video.

Voice of Ambazonian (VA) speaks to Cardinal:

We have an allegation about you that you are the one that is creating problems in our territory first, the fighters who are on the ground, the Ambozonia Restoration Forces, you have the routine (habit) of telling them to lay down their arms …

Cardinal Tumi: All of us are fighting for peace. Even you!

VA: You are now free to go and let the Republic (Government of Cameroon) know that we will never lay down our arms until our freedom comes … because we are fighting for our rights. We are not Rebels; we are not barbaric as the Republic says, we are fighting for our rights as a people …

Cardinal Tumi: I am a Cameroonian citizen like you. I am not part of the government. I am totally independent of what I say. I am not the mouthpiece of the government because I am not employed by the government. When I speak, I speak like a pastor and that I can never stop. If I stop doing that, I will not be faithful to God the almighty. If you have done wrong, I will tell you that you have done wrong; if the government has done wrong, I will say they have done wrong!

VA: Another allegation against you is about federation. That is the allegation that we have heard that you are fighting for federation … We are not fighting for federation … we believe that we are a country (Ambazonia) from 1961…according to the allegation, you have made our boys lay down their arms and many of them have been killed.

Cardinal Tumi: Point of correction. I will preach what is true and (based on) pastoral conviction, biblical conviction. Nobody has the right to tell me to preach the contrary, because I was called by God.

No ransom paid for the release of Cardinal Tumi

The separatists, who obviously filmed the video, are keen to emphasise that Cardinal Tumi confirm, on record, that they had not mistreated him. The Cardinal affirms that he had not been mistreated but tongue-in-cheek, reminds his captor that he had not eaten anything from the time they seized him, the previous day. His interlocutor forges ahead. He wants the Cardinal to confirm, on video, that no money had been paid for his release nor had they robbed him of any personal belongings. 

Traditional ruler finally released as well

Cardinal Tumi was abducted together with the paramount traditional ruler of  the Nso people, Fon Sehm Mbinglo II, of Bui Division in the North West region of Cameroon. Their convoy of cars was, on the 5 November, intercepted between Bamenda and Kumbo. While Cardinal Tumi was released a day after the abduction, the separatist fighters held on to the traditional ruler. The separatists only released the traditional ruler on Tuesday, 10 November..

Pope Francis’ closeness to Cameroon

Pope Francis has expressed his closeness to Cameroon. At the weekly General Audience on 28 October, he prayed that “the tormented regions of the North West and South West of the country would find peace.”

Human Rights Watch has condemned the violence in Cameroon

According to Human Rights Watch, Cameroon’s military and the armed separatists are both guilty of atrocities and human rights violations in the four-year conflict. Over 3 000 civilians and hundreds of security personnel have been killed. The unrest in the regions has also forced more than 700 000 people from their homes. Many are now living as Internally Displaced Persons while thousands have fled across the border into Nigeria, as refugees. 

What Moana was doing was against our religion – estranged father speaks

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What Moana was doing was against our religion – estranged father speaks




What Moana was doing was against our religion – estranged father speaks – Nehanda Radio




















Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opens second investigation into its e-commerce business practices

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European Commission
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Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opens second investigation into its e-commerce business practices

The European Commission has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that it has breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets. The Commission takes issue with Amazon systematically relying on non-public business data of independent sellers who sell on its marketplace, to the benefit of Amazon’s own retail business, which directly competes with those third party sellers.

The Commission also opened a second formal antitrust investigation into the possible preferential treatment of Amazon’s own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “We must ensure that dual role platforms with market power, such as Amazon, do not distort competition.  Data on the activity of third party sellers should not be used to the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor to these sellers. The conditions of competition on the Amazon platform must also be fair.  Its rules should not artificially favour Amazon’s own retail offers or advantage the offers of retailers using Amazon’s logistics and delivery services. With e-commerce booming, and Amazon being the leading e-commerce platform, a fair and undistorted access to consumers online is important for all sellers.”

Statement of Objections on Amazon’s use of marketplace seller data

Amazon has a dual role as a platform: (i) it provides a marketplace where independent sellers can sell products directly to consumers; and (ii) it sells products as a retailer on the same marketplace, in competition with those sellers.

As a marketplace service provider, Amazon has access to non-public business data of third party sellers such as the number of ordered and shipped units of products, the sellers’ revenues on the marketplace, the number of visits to sellers’ offers, data relating to shipping, to sellers’ past performance, and other consumer claims on products, including the activated guarantees.

The Commission’s preliminary findings show that very large quantities of non-public seller data are available to employees of Amazon’s retail business and flow directly into the automated systems of that business, which aggregate these data and use them to calibrate Amazon’s retail offers and strategic business decisions to the detriment of the other marketplace sellers. For example, it allows Amazon to focus its offers in the best-selling products across product categories and to adjust its offers in view of non-public data of competing sellers.

The Commission’s preliminary view, outlined in its Statement of Objections, is that the use of non-public marketplace seller data allows Amazon to avoid the normal risks of retail competition and to leverage its dominance in the market for the provision of marketplace services in France and Germany- the biggest markets for Amazon in the EU. If confirmed, this would infringe Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.

The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of an investigation.

Investigation into Amazon practices regarding its “Buy Box” and Prime label

In addition, the Commission opened a second antitrust investigation into Amazon’s business practices that might artificially favour its own retail offers and offers of marketplace sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services (the so-called “fulfilment by Amazon or FBA sellers”).

In particular, the Commission will investigate whether the criteria that Amazon sets to select the winner of the “Buy Box” and to enable sellers to offer products to Prime users, under Amazon’s Prime loyalty programme, lead to preferential treatment of Amazon’s retail business or of the sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services.

The “Buy Box” is displayed prominently on Amazon’s websites and allows customers to add items from a specific retailer directly into their shopping carts. Winning the “Buy Box” (i.e. being chosen as the offer that features in this box) is crucial to marketplace sellers as the Buy Box prominently shows the offer of one single seller for a chosen product on Amazon’s marketplaces, and generates the vast majority of all sales. The other aspect of the investigation focusses on the possibility for marketplace sellers to effectively reach Prime users. Reaching these consumers is important to sellers because the number of Prime users is continuously growing and because they tend to generate more sales on Amazon’s marketplaces than non-Prime users.

If proven, the practice under investigation may breach Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.

The Commission will now carry out its in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.

Background and procedure

Article 102 of the TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant position. The implementation of these provisions is defined in the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation No 1/2003), which can also be applied by the national competition authorities.

The Commission opened the in-depth investigation into Amazon’s use of marketplace seller data on 17 July 2019.

A Statement of Objections is a formal step in Commission investigations into suspected violations of EU antitrust rules. The Commission informs the parties concerned in writing of the objections raised against them. The addressees can examine the documents in the Commission’s investigation file, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their comments on the case before representatives of the Commission and national competition authorities. Sending a Statement of Objections and opening of a formal antitrust investigation does not prejudge the outcome of the investigations.

More information on the investigation is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under case number AT.40462.

The Commission has informed Amazon and the competition authorities of the Member States that it has opened a second in-depth investigation into Amazon’s business practices.

This investigation will cover the European Economic Area, with the exception of Italy. The Italian Competition Authority started to investigate partially similar concerns last year, with a particular focus on the Italian market. The Commission will continue the close cooperation with the Italian Competition Authority throughout the investigation.

More information on the investigation will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under case number AT.40703.

There is no legal deadlines for bringing an antitrust investigation to an end. The duration of an antitrust investigation depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of the case, the extent to which the undertakings concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.

USCCB Statement on Holy See’s Report on Theodore McCarrick – Vatican News

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USCCB Statement on Holy See’s Report on Theodore McCarrick - Vatican News

By USCCB

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

November 10, 2020

I welcome the report of the Holy See’s investigation into its knowledge and decision-making regarding Theodore McCarrick during his long career as a priest, bishop, and cardinal. We are studying these findings, and we are grateful to our Holy Father Pope Francis for his pastoral concern for the family of God in the United States and his leadership in calling the Church to greater accountability and transparency in addressing issues of abuse and the mishandling of abuse claims at every level.

This is another tragic chapter in the Church’s long struggle to confront the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy. To McCarrick’s victims and their families, and to every victim-survivor of sexual abuse by the clergy, I express my profound sorrow and deepest apologies. Please know that my brother bishops and I are committed to doing whatever is in our power to help you move forward and to ensure that no one suffers what you have been forced to suffer.

To all those who have suffered abuse by a priest, bishop, or someone in the Church, I urge you to report this abuse to law enforcement and to Church authorities. You can find detailed information on how and where to report abuse at www.usccb.org/committees/protection-children-young-people/how-report-abuse.

This report underscores the need for us to repent and grow in our commitment to serve the people of God. Let us all continue to pray and strive for the conversion of our hearts, and that we might follow Jesus Christ with integrity and humility.

Amazon hit with antitrust charges over data use by European Union

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Amazon hit with antitrust charges over data use by European Union

European Union regulators filed antitrust charges Tuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform.

The EU’s executive Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, issued the charges after it started looking into the company two years ago. Adding to Amazon’s regulatory headaches, EU officials also opened a second investigation into whether the company favors product offers and merchants that use its own logistics and delivery system.

It’s the latest effort by Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition issues, to curb the power of big technology companies. She has slapped Google with antitrust fines totaling nearly $10 billion and opened twin antitrust investigations this summer into Apple. The U.S. has started taking a tougher line as well, suing Google this year for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising.

It’s not a problem that Amazon is big and successful, said Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition. But “our concern is very specific business conduct which appears to distort genuine competition.”

World’s richest man Jeff Bezos sells $3B in Amazon stock

EU officials focused on the company’s dual role as a marketplace and retailer. In addition to selling its own products, the U.S. company allows third-party retailers to sell their own goods through its site.

The commission took issue with Amazon’s systematic use of business data that it has exclusive access to to avoid the normal risks of competition and leverage its dominance for e-commerce services in France and Germany, the company’s two biggest markets in the EU.

Amazon faces a possible fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue, which could amount to as much as $28 billion based on its 2019 earnings. The company rejected the accusations.

“We disagree with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts,” the company said in a statement. Under EU rules, it can reply to the charges in writing and present its case in an oral hearing.

Investigators analyzed data covering 80 million transactions and 100 million products listed on Amazon’s site. Vestager said they found that “very granular, real time business data” on third party product listings and transactions was fed into algorithms for Amazon’s retail business that decide which new products to launch, their price and supplier.

“In other words, this is a case about big data,” Vestager told a press briefing.

Ordinary retailers take risks when they invest heavily to find new products, bring them to market and decide how much to sell them for, Vestager said. “Our concern is that Amazon can avoid some of those risks by using the data it has access to.”

The stakes have risen for retailers as many European countries have shut nonessential shops temporarily to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic, pushing more shopping online, where Amazon is a major presence.

The EU’s second investigation will look at the criteria Amazon uses to decide which seller’s product gets chosen for the “buy box” and for its Prime membership service, and whether that means they get preferential treatment by the company’s logistics and delivery services.

The buy box, found on the right side of Amazon’s site, lets shoppers add items directly to their shopping baskets. The box features a single seller’s product even though multiple merchants might offer it.

Press Conference by EP President Sassoli on the MFF and Own Resources | News | European Parliament

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Compromise on long-term EU budget:EP obtains €16 billion more for key programmes | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201110IPR91212/

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