Italy hits Amazon and Apple with 200 million euro antitrust fine
Italy’s competition watchdog imposed fines totalling 200
million euros ($225 million) on Amazon and Apple on Tuesday in the latest
action taken against US tech giants in Europe over their business practices.
It ordered Apple to pay 134.5 million euros and e-commerce
firm Amazon 68.7 million euros for infringing EU laws through restrictions
which penalized sellers of Apple and Beats products.
US big tech firms have faced a slew of antitrust challenges
in Europe — an approach being watched closely by regulators in Washington,
which has pledged to intensifying scrutiny of the technology industry.
The Italian watchdog said a 2018 deal between the two US
companies had “barred official and unofficial resellers of Apple and Beats
products from using Amazon.it, allowing the sale of those products in that
marketplace only to Amazon and to selected parties in a discriminatory manner.”
The aim had been to restrict the number of retailers and
limit cross-border sales, it said.
The agreement spelled bad news for consumers, because at
least 70 percent of electronics goods bought in Italy were purchased on Amazon,
it added.
The watchdog said its investigation had attracted the
attention of “the national competition authorities in Germany and Spain, which
have also launched similar procedures.”
A crackdown on Big Tech firms could lead to the breakup of
the largest platforms, with Europe powering ahead with antitrust litigation and
US lawmakers eyeing moves to make antitrust enforcement easier.
Big Tech critics in the European Union and United States
want Apple and Google to loosen the grip of their online app marketplaces; more
competition in a digital advertising market dominated by Google and Facebook;
and better access to Amazon’s e-commerce platform by third-party sellers.
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