Bezos Faces Questions on Use of Information From Third Parties
29 Juli 2020 - 10:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Dana Mattioli
The chief executives of Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook
Inc. and Google are appearing Wednesday before the House Antitrust
Subcommittee investigating the market dominance of online
platforms.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fielded his first question from Democratic
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who asked whether Amazon uses
individual data from third-party sellers, as described in an April
Wall Street Journal report. "I can't answer that question yes or
no," said Mr. Bezos in response. The WSJ investigation showed that
Amazon's private-label employees were using information about
individual third-party sellers to develop competing products.
Mr. Bezos said that he was familiar with the Journal story and
that he couldn't guarantee that Amazon's policy had never been
violated. He said the company is continuing to look into it "very
carefully."
Mr. Bezos avoided early questioning by subcommittee members due
to a technical issue with his virtual feed.
Amazon has a robust private-label program making 158,000
products. Last year, a top Amazon lawyer gave Congressional
testimony in which he said: "We don't use individual seller data
directly to compete" with businesses on the company's platform.
After the Journal's story, some questioned whether Amazon's
lawyer had misled Congress. "At best, Amazon's witness appears to
have misrepresented key aspects of Amazon's business practices
while omitting important details in response to pointed
questioning," said Rep. David Cicilline, who heads up the antitrust
subcommittee, following the story. "At worst, the witness Amazon
sent to speak on its behalf may have lied to Congress."
-Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 29, 2020 15:57 ET (19:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 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