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Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

politico.eu

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Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#41

Post by oblio »

AbrahamParangi wrote: post #37
smhost wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What would be necessary for the government to run a service like Amazon successfully? Anti-corruption measures to stop politicians from sabotaging those services. E.g., USPS.

Idk if USPS is truly an example of excellence, even if they are an example of govt excellence. In 2020 they shipped 70 billion packages, of which 90% was spam.

> In 2020 they shipped 70 billion packages, of which 90% was spam.

Is that their problem, though? I don't think anyone expects the post to police package contents.

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#42

Post by jedimastert »

beforeolives wrote: post #30
amelius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman said it too: https://stallman.org/amazon.html > We should not allow a company to have a share over around 10% of any market. If in a certain field a single dominant company is beneficial for society, that means it is a natural monopoly, and should be served by a regulated utility.

I don't think that Stallman agreeing adds as much credibility to the idea as you might think.

As much I dislike Stallman's outreach "strategies" and general public efforts, I'll freely admit he's been right a LOT. The problem is that no one will listen to him because he's an ass about it. I imagine he thinks himself a modern day Cassandra...

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#43

Post by alfonsodev »

beforeolives wrote: post #30
amelius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman said it too: https://stallman.org/amazon.html > We should not allow a company to have a share over around 10% of any market. If in a certain field a single dominant company is beneficial for society, that means it is a natural monopoly, and should be served by a regulated utility.

I don't think that Stallman agreeing adds as much credibility to the idea as you might think.

I think Stallman has been having a relevant point here[1], worth to mention, a philosophical one if you will, which is the question: should technology keep progressing as fast as possible because is convenient no matter what’s price ?

That’s the background discussion where I think Stallman has a point, I heard this from him years ago regarding Facebook and privacy, and that was before all the scandals.

[1] Facebook is surveillance monster feeding on our personal data - Richard Stallman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c3sv30w158

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#44

Post by suprfsat »

LightG wrote: post #39
spaceribs wrote: post #2

Amazon should be nationalized. All these 3rd party companies want is a "farmers market", a stall to sell their wares. Give them the municipal software infrastructure they need to do so and maintain it as a public good.

It's a catch-22 ... would Amazon be this innovative had it been nationalised? At what point do you nationalise? Is there a next technology which will be stifled if it was nationalise? Does nationalisation sttifle innovation? I've been wrestling with these questions as I actually don't like Amazon for all the reasons that have been well publicised ... but their customer service is excellent. Which sets me against a st…

Jeff Bezos will testify in front of congress that he will cease to be innovative if required to pay taxes.

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#45

Post by guerrilla »

spaceribs wrote: post #2

Amazon should be nationalized. All these 3rd party companies want is a "farmers market", a stall to sell their wares. Give them the municipal software infrastructure they need to do so and maintain it as a public good.

I agree but there's one practical problem with this: other markets (e.g. the EU) need to nationalize or reproduce it too or else the US is getting significant geopolitical leverage.

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#47

Post by londons_explore »

guerrilla wrote: post #45
spaceribs wrote: post #2

Amazon should be nationalized. All these 3rd party companies want is a "farmers market", a stall to sell their wares. Give them the municipal software infrastructure they need to do so and maintain it as a public good.

I agree but there's one practical problem with this: other markets (e.g. the EU) need to nationalize or reproduce it too or else the US is getting significant geopolitical leverage.

If the US nationalized Amazon, I think you can be pretty sure that other countries would also nationalize their local Amazon divisions (ie. Amazon FR would become property of the french government)

Re: Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

#48

Post by girvo »

AbrahamParangi wrote: post #19
spaceribs wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon has issues, but "nationalizing" it would not ease those issues in fact in most ways it would make them worse. Change my mind then? What would be worse in that situation?

Interop requirements may serve better than direct government control. At the very least, it’s worth being clear eyed with respect to the quality of government run services. What would be necessary for the government to run a service like Amazon successfully? Is our government today capable of doing such a thing? I think the answer is clearly no.

Government run services can be absolutely excellent though. It’s not a pure truth that government run = subpar.
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