Italian Court Cancels Apple, Amazon Antitrust Fine
03 Oktober 2022 - 6:15PM
Dow Jones News
By Mauro Orru
A court in Italy scrapped a 173.3 million-euro ($169.9 million)
antitrust fine that the country's competition watchdog had levied
on Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., saying the regulator hadn't
given the tech giants enough time to prepare their defense.
The Italian Competition Authority, or AGCM, issued more than
$225 million in fines to Apple and Amazon in November last year,
saying they colluded to exclude legitimate resellers of Apple and
Beats products from Amazon's Italian marketplace. Beats, the audio
brand acquired by Apple in 2014, makes consumer headphones,
earphones and speakers.
The fines--subsequently trimmed by AGCM to EUR173.3 million due
to a calculation error--stemmed from a 2018 agreement between Apple
and Amazon that let the companies pick which resellers of Apple and
Beats products were allowed on amazon.it and ban others, the
regulator said at the time.
The agreement also hindered cross-border sales as it effectively
allowed Apple and Amazon to restrict the number of allowed
resellers and discriminate against them on a geographical basis in
breach of European Union treaties, AGCM said.
A regional court in Rome on Monday scrapped the fine, arguing
that the regulator had rushed through the proceedings and
undermined Apple and Amazon's ability to defend themselves.
"Such excessive brevity is, a fortiori, unjustified given the
overall duration and relevance of the proceedings," the court said
in a statement.
The Italian competition watchdog said it had no comment. Apple
didn't respond to a request for comment, while Amazon said it
welcomed the court's decision.
"Our business model across Europe relies on the success of small
and medium-sized businesses, and we will continue to work hard to
provide a great selection from Apple, and the value and convenience
that our customers love," Amazon said in a statement.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 03, 2022 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Mär 2024 bis Apr 2024
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Apr 2023 bis Apr 2024