EU Competition Commissioner Unveils Investigation Into Amazon, Continuing Probe Into The Tech Giants

On Thursday, the European Commissioner for Competition announced a formal investigation into whether Amazon, the largest distributor of e-books in Europe, has abused its dominance in the market for e-books. The investigation deals with specific clauses in Amazon's contracts with publishers, which require the publishers to inform Amazon of more favorable or alternative terms offered to competitors and to offer similar terms to Amazon. The investigation focuses on the legality of these clauses under EU competition law.

In a statement, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager explained that the investigation had been undertaken to ensure that Amazon's contractual agreements with publishers did not harm competition by "preventing other e-book distributors from innovating and competing effectively with Amazon."