France vows to prevent Amazon from monopolizing its book market

PanARMENIAN.Net - France doesn't want Amazon to monopolize its book market, so the country is threatening to take legal measures to prevent it, Mashable reports.

In an interview with French TV news outlet BFM TV on Friday, June 21, Aurelie Filippetti, France's minister of culture and communication, stressed the need for a law that would prevent Amazon from offering free delivery and a 5% discount on books in the country.

"I'm in favor of ending the possibility of offering both free delivery and a five percent discount," said Filippetti, who is also a published novelist. "We need a law, so we're going to find a legislative window to introduce one."

This isn't the first time Filippetti has called for such a law. At a meeting of booksellers in Bordeaux earlier this month, she said, "Everyone is tired of Amazon, which breaks prices, then penetrates markets and makes up prices once they are in a monopoly position."

Currently, French law prevents Amazon and other booksellers from offering more than a 5% discount on books, but booksellers claim that such a discount, coupled with free shipping, is impossible for them to match and still turn a profit.

Adding to France's ire, Amazon — which has French operations headquartered in Luxembourg — does not pay most of its taxes to France, Filippetti said.

The discussions are the latest in a series of tee-offs between the French government and U.S. technology firms, particularly Google, which has clashed with the government on news, maps and book-scanning. The government has also threatened to place an "Internet tax" on data collection activities by Facebook, Google and other technology companies.