Lawmaker: California’s Amazon-Endorsed AB 3262 Will Not Proceed In Its ‘Present Form’

The lawmaker behind a proposed California consumer protection law indicated that it will not proceed in its current iteration, CNBC reported.

California Assemblymember Mark Stone said, per a statement cited by CNBC, that “AB 3262 will not advance in its present form by the legislative deadline,” even with “promising ideas and potential paths for moving forward.”

“Many industry participants engaged with us early, while others came to the table much more recently,” Stone said. “The conversations were productive as we worked to move beyond the ‘buyer beware’ mentality, and toward an online policy that has been the law for brick-and-mortar retailers in California for decades.”

AB 3262 aimed to have “electronic retail marketplaces” follow the same liability standards as physical retailers. However, Shopify, Etsy, eBay’s public policy division and industry organizations were opposed to the bill. They claim that the legislation would hamper small companies that offer products through the web.

The news comes as Amazon has encountered criticism from Etsy Chief Executive Josh Silverman regarding its support of the legislation. Silverman contended that the eCommerce retailer was “taking bold steps to wipe out its competitors” by supporting the law. In a Medium post, he said that “Amazon’s goal is to be the only place to buy stuff online, hobbling mom-and-pops that sell unique items in their own shops, or more frequently since COVID, through marketplaces like Etsy.”

Amazon’s Public Policy Chief Brian Huseman wrote in an Aug. 21 blog post that the company would back AB 3262 if it included “all online marketplaces regardless of their particular business models.”

eCommerce retailers, tech firms and ad organizations were watching the proposal, which would hold digital marketplaces liable for defective items. It comes out of a case in California in which an individual sought damages in a legal case after a replacement battery she bought from Amazon exploded.