481–490 of 653 posts
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You can’t open source it but the government could nationalize it and make it a benefit to small businesses everywhere without the anti competitive profit seeking motives of a private business controlling it.
Expropriation is the first step to destroying the thing. There no reason for unbelievably good customer service if you get paid by taxpayers regardless of outcome.
We share the frustration that much of the data and quotes by Amazon executives in the complaint that describe what we allege is monopolistic and illegal behavior is redacted. Amazon has 14 days from the entry of a temporary sealing order to provide legitimate justification for preventing this information from being revealed. We do not believe that there are compelling reasons to keep much of this information secret from the public."
If Amazon has done nothing wrong then why so many redactions. It might succeed in keeping the facts sealed away from public view but it only raises more questions.
It sounds like Amazon is a heavy source of bots on the web if they need to continually scrape millions of websites to monitor pricing. Perhaps someone can explain how that works.
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> Amazon responds that it is within its rights to not promote uncompetitive offers Sounds to me like Amazon has found a loophole in the law. It agrees to list anything for sale, with no anti competitive conditions, but then only recommends customers buy things that it believes are in the customers best interests. The FTC will struggle to argue that is illegal. Amazon can't be compelled to recommend stuff. (free speec…
>It will be hard for the court to argue that amazon should start recommending more expensive items to consumers, just to push consumers into looking for a cheaper platform. Yes, 100% this. That's why I said that this lawsuit has a major remedy problem. Even if the court agrees this is anticompetitive, how do you fix it? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37767994
The fact that the product exists $1 cheaper on another site does not make it not the best recommendation for the customer’s need. If I search “tablet” are you saying I should be recommended a cheap off brand tablet promoted to me because Amazon has the cheapest price or an iPad even though I can buy an iPad on apple.com for $10 cheaper?
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According to the FTC's lawsuit, Amazon no longer binds its sellers with a Most Favored Nation clause. Instead, Amazon now will refuse to promote an offer in its "buy box" space if it detects a lower price for that good on another website. The FTC alleges that this simply reconstitutes the MFA since most sales on Amazon take place from the buy box. Amazon responds that it is within its rights to not promote uncompetit…
This is a good point and your comment below ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37768419 ) highlights it well. What people don't realize is that this is in the interest of the consumer. I used to work at Amazon (although not on any of these teams) so that's probably why I know that "see all buying options" means the price is not competitive. As a consumer I value this. Amazon scours the web to make sure their prod…
While they are at it they should also go after the credit card companies. They have managed to extract a 2-3% tax on most retail transactions. There is really no reason why the fees should be that high in the age of electronic transactions.
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You are confusing unrelated things. As used here, "MFN" refers to a common type of term found in standard business contracts that have nothing to do with the WTO or the government. This discussion is about Amazon's use of MFN terms when contracting with ordinary domestic businesses.
That's not what you used the term for. If there is conflating going on, it started with your post.
You are the only person that introduced the notion that this had anything to do with the WTO, international treaties, etc.
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The weekly sales flyers that stores offer was/is another way around this as well. Some of them have coupons to specific items that are not allowed to have sales prices lower than the MSRP. Very few people are as draconian about their prices as Apple, but others sure wannabe.
> Some of them have coupons to specific items that are not allowed to have sales prices lower than the MSRP. That's actually kinda disappointing. I'd always assumed those flyers were pieces of trash (at best, something I'd need to put in a recycling bin) which I don't want but now I'll be more tempted to take them when offered on the chance that I otherwise accidentally avoid the sales price. It's still good to know…
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I disagree. Demanding the lowest price does not harm consumers. Overstock, Wayfair, Walmart and others do the same thing. The result is the lowest price for a given product on all sites. This is unquestionably good for consumers.
Most disagrees with you here, including those who makes the laws and the courts.
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You pay these fees so the products aren't cheap. And Amazon (using its size) made it impossible for sellers to sell their products cheaper elsewhere. This is anticompetitive.
> You pay these fees so the products aren't cheap. Except they are, otherwise consumers wouldn't use Amazon. Whenever I want to buy anything, I check Amazon first. 9 times out of 10 it's the same price as every other retailer with the added benefit of free shipping and free returns. If that wasn't the case, I would have no reason to use Amazon.
What magic does apple work behind the scenes to avoid scrutiny? If we're talking about hidden taxes, surely the only app store allowed on 50% of smart phones taking 30% is a hidden tax? And if not that, surely visa/mastercard's fee is it's own hidden tax?
What's the android version of Amazon, again? These are clearly different scales of manipulation. On one hand, you have a brand controlling their own luxury devices, and on the other, you have a brand controlling literally everything else.
Prioritizing your own brand has been the norm at every grocery store I've ever been to.