Amazon Probed for E-Books as EU Widens Scrutiny of US Tech

Amazon.com faces a probe into its e-book contracts with publishers as the European Union’s Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager added to her growing list of fights with US technology companies. EU regulators said the world’s biggest online retailer may be squeezing out rival distributors of e-books by insisting that publishers can’t give them better terms. “We’re not actually targeting US companies -- we don’t have a geographic bias,” Vestager said. “This just reflects that there are many strong companies in the US that influence the digital market elsewhere.” The e-books probe is Amazon’s latest clash with the EU after it was embroiled in an investigation into tax loopholes for multinationals including Apple.

Since taking office in November, Vestager has also sent Google a formal antitrust complaint for shutting out rival search engines and started a clampdown on possible barriers to e-commerce and digital content including Hollywood studios’ pay-TV deals. The EU’s antitrust watchdog said the Seattle-based company includes clauses in its contracts that “require publishers to inform Amazon about more favorable or alternative terms offered to Amazon’s competitors” and to “ensure that Amazon is offered terms at least as good as those for its competitors.” Amazon, now the largest distributor of e-books in Europe, helped pioneer the market with the introduction of the Kindle device in 2007.