Amazon Proposes Settlement of EU Antitrust Charges on Seller Data

Amazon has proposed concessions to settle two antitrust cases against it in the European Union, a fresh sign of changing strategy from big tech companies after the bloc passed a strict new digital-competition law. The US-based online retailer offered a pledge not to use nonpublic data about sellers on its marketplace, after the EU accused Amazon of violating competition law by using nonpublic information from merchants to compete against them. The European Commission, the bloc’s top competition regulator, said it was seeking feedback on commitments offered by Amazon to settle the cases. If the commitments are accepted, they would become binding and apply to Amazon’s activities in the EU over a five-year period. Although a settlement wouldn’t require Amazon to make any changes to its business practices outside of Europe, lawyers said the commitments could end up having wider repercussions because companies sometimes choose to apply changes they are compelled to make in Europe to their global operations.