US sellers: Write to your Senators and urge them to oppose S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
As we have noted in previous communications to you throughout the past year, Congress is considering legislation, including S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, that could jeopardize Amazon’s ability to operate a marketplace service and, as a result, your business’s ability to sell in our store. Recent public comments from Senate leadership indicate that they intend to vote on S. 2992 later this month. I want to ensure that you are aware of this legislation and what you can do to try and stop it from harming you.
We recently published a blog post that details our objections to the bill and why we believe it will harm your business, American consumers, and Amazon. As noted in the post, we consistently hear from our selling partners that what they find most valuable in working with us is the broad distribution and traffic from hundreds of millions of consumers they get by listing their products in our store - the very benefits you stand to lose with this proposed legislation.
I encourage you to read the blog post in its entirety to fully understand our position and why Amazon opposes this legislation. Together, small businesses and Amazon have created one of the greatest partnership stories in the history of retail, and we want to be able to continue this amazing partnership for many years to come.
I hope you will join us by encouraging your Senators to oppose S. 2992. Please click here to send emails directly to your Senators. It will take less than two minutes of your time.
Thank you,
Dharmesh M. Mehta
Vice President, WW Selling Partner Services (SPS)
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I thought that was already done with the Account Health Support process, as designed in 2018/19? Wow, that was a success!
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"This bill prohibits certain large online platforms from engaging in specified acts, including giving preference to their own products on the platform, unfairly limiting the availability on the platform of competing products from another business, or discriminating in the application or enforcement of the platform’s terms of service among similarly situated users.
Further, a platform may not materially restrict or impede the capacity of a competing business user to access or interoperate with the same platform, operating system, or hardware or software features. The bill also restricts the platform’s use of nonpublic data obtained from or generated on the platform and prohibits the platform from restricting access to platform data generated by the activity of a competing business user. The bill also provides additional restrictions related to installing or uninstalling software, search or ranking functionality, and retaliation for contact with law enforcement regarding actual or potential violations of law.
The bill establishes affirmative defenses for the prohibited conduct.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice must designate whether an entity is a platform covered by the bill, and both must carry out enforcement activities.
The bill also provides for civil penalties, injunctions, and the forfeit of profits for repeat offenders."
Yes, I’m going to oppose that Amazon will be prohibited from undercutting, manipulating the buybox, and instituting restrictions on certain listings that unfairly bar me from selling an item. Yup, writing to my Senator right now.
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I have read through this bill. Not seeing how it jeopardize my ability to sell. Everything I read in the bill is pro seller.
Here is what I see in the bill for violations under the bill, and not anything about sellers not being able to sell any longer…
- “Unfairly” preferencing a platform operator’s products, services, or lines of business
- “Unfairly” limiting another’s products to compete against the platform’s operator and discrimination in the enforcement of these regulations.
- Discrimination in the application of enforcement of the covered platform’s terms of service among similarly situated business users in a matter that may harm competition on the platform
- Restricting the capacity of business owners to operate with different platforms’ operating systems, hardware, or software features that are available to the platform operator’s products
- Condition access to the covered platform or preferred status or placement on the platform on the purchase or use of other products offered by the covered platform operator that is not unique to the covered platform itself
- Use of non-public data that are obtained from or generated on the covered platform by the activities of a business user or by the interaction of a covered platform user with the products of a business user to offer or support the offering of the covered platform’s own products
- Restriction or impediment of covered platform users from uninstalling software applications that have been preinstalled on the platform or changing default settings on the platform that steered users towards products offered by the covered platform
- Retaliation against users who report concerns
Maybe Amazon can clarify by citing and post the specific proposed legislation contained in the bill that will prevent us from selling on the platform here?
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The bill jeopardizes the way Amazon wants to operate. It would not jeopardize marketplaces.
Amazon, get your own house in order before asking us as sellers to defend you.
Does dharmesh even know the forums exist?
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I Won’t be defending Amazon since they lose my inventory and do not reimburse timely or fairly. They have gone to far with the new reimbursement policy which is “find a way not to reimburse at whatever the cost”.
Even if they can get away with it clean.
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Where you out in the sun too long and forgot to wear a hat.
Amazon did not do that for my company when amazon banned and removed my top selling products that are 100% legal for sale in ALL of the United States of America.
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Thanks for the reminder! I’ve asked my senators to support the bill.
