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Germany: New chapter in eBooks saga hits Amazon

By  |  June 24, 2014

A new antitrust complaint has hit Amazon in Germany, continuing the saga of competition concerns within the online eBooks retail business.

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    According to reports, Germany’s booksellers association filed the complaint against the world’s largest online retailer with the Federal Cartel Office accusing Amazon of abusing its market dominance against publishers. Authorities are being asked to investigate Amazon’s negotiation tactics with those publishers, which the booksellers say are anticompetitive.

    ”With this extortive action toward publishers, Amazon violates antitrust laws,” the association said.

    The complaint follows reports last month that Amazon deliberately delayed eBook shipments of Bonnier Media products. According to unnamed sources, Amazon is forcing eBook publishers to lower prices so Amazon can continue to discount the publications.

    A similar disagreement between Amazon and France’s Hachette Book Group also broke out in recent weeks.

    Full content: Bloomberg

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