Italy fines Apple, Amazon $230 million over price fixing

A fine totalling 203.2 million Euros has been imposed on Apple and Amazon by Italian regulators, following an antitrust investigation about retail collusion and price fixing.

Italy's antitrust regulator L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) had been investigating the two companies following allegations that they worked together to prevent price cuts from other vendors. Now the AGCM has ruled that the two cooperated in anti-competitive moves over the sale of Apple and Beats devices.

According to Reuters, the authority has imposed a fine of 134.5 million Euros on Apple ($151.6 million), and 68.7 million Euros ($77.43) on Amazon. The two companies are also ordered to end the alleged practices.

Apple and Amazon have separately issued statements denying the accusations, and saying they will appeal the ruling.

"To ensure our customers purchase genuine products," said Apple, "we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold."

"We reject the suggestion that Amazon benefits by excluding sellers from our store, since our business model relies on their success," said Amazon. "As a result of the agreement, Italian customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, benefiting from a catalogue that more than doubled, with better deals and faster shipping."

Italy's AGCM has previously fined Apple much smaller amounts over claimed planned obsolescence, and battery slow downs.

11 Comments

fred1 1133 comments · 11 Years

About 2 years ago

And cue the eurobashing . . .

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

fred1 said:

And cue the eurobashing . . .

No ‘eurobashing’ just government bashing in general. Just because some bureaucrats come up with allegations does not mean something illegal actually happened. Unless, of course, one is in the “ all corporations are evil” camp. Then there is an assumption of guilt. Bureaucrats are notorious for their actions to keep themselves employed. Both Apple and Amazon are appealing the fines. Let’s wait a little while longer before condemning the companies.

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

lkrupp said:

fred1 said:

And cue the eurobashing . . .

No ‘eurobashing’ just government bashing in general. Just because some bureaucrats come up with allegations does not mean something illegal actually happened. Unless, of course, one is in the “ all corporations are evil” camp. Then there is an assumption of guilt. Bureaucrats are notorious for their actions to keep themselves employed. Both Apple and Amazon are appealing the fines. Let’s wait a little while longer before condemning the companies.

There's an assumption of guilt because THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED. Something illegal happened. Apple and Amazon are guilty, have been convicted, and have been fined. Sure, they have appeals left, but we all know Apple is notorious for engaging in anti-competitive behavior these days.

avon b7 8008 comments · 20 Years

lkrupp said:

fred1 said:

And cue the eurobashing . . .

No ‘eurobashing’ just government bashing in general. Just because some bureaucrats come up with allegations does not mean something illegal actually happened. Unless, of course, one is in the “ all corporations are evil” camp. Then there is an assumption of guilt. Bureaucrats are notorious for their actions to keep themselves employed. Both Apple and Amazon are appealing the fines. Let’s wait a little while longer before condemning the companies.

Click through on the link provided in the article. The Italian department claimed Apple and Amazon had a contract that violated EU law on the matter.

On the face of it, it was an open and shut case. Both parties can appeal but if they violated EU law, what will come of it?

Of course, damage limitation starts now and that's why the obligatory 'this is unjust', we did nothing wrong', 'we disagree', 'we only want to protect consumers' is getting thrown around.

The Italians obviously think the agreement was in violation of EU law and it's crystal clear that Apple wanted to control over who sold its products through a third party retailer, and as the Italians have claimed, that is discriminatory.

anonymouse 6967 comments · 15 Years

darkvader said:

lkrupp said:

fred1 said:

And cue the eurobashing . . .

No ‘eurobashing’ just government bashing in general. Just because some bureaucrats come up with allegations does not mean something illegal actually happened. Unless, of course, one is in the “ all corporations are evil” camp. Then there is an assumption of guilt. Bureaucrats are notorious for their actions to keep themselves employed. Both Apple and Amazon are appealing the fines. Let’s wait a little while longer before condemning the companies.

There's an assumption of guilt because THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED. Something illegal happened. Apple and Amazon are guilty, have been convicted, and have been fined. Sure, they have appeals left, but we all know Apple is notorious for engaging in anti-competitive behavior these days.

The problem is that, particularly after the Amanda Knox case, Italy's thoroughly corrupt "justice system" is entirely lacking in credibility. Yes, she was exonerated, eventually, after 4 years, on appeal, but it's absurd that she was ever convicted in the first place. So, "THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED" isn't really a strong argument when we are talking about Italy.