A letter sent on Monday to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy by House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee members made the overture, requesting that the company correct the record about how it uses non-public individual seller data to create and market its own product lines. The query asked for a response by November 1 and encouraged Amazon to provide thorough and accurate responses in view of the subcommittee’s consideration of a Department of Justice criminal probe.
The six-page letter explained that testimony provided by company leaders, including former CEO Jeffrey Bezos, to Congress has been undermined by a series of investigatory exposés.
By way of example, the members point to a Reuters special report that ran last Wednesday. In the report, company documents allegedly revealed Amazon’s habit of using proprietary data from individual third-party sellers to recreate its own, competing products and to manipulate search results to increase its own brand’s sales.The Reuters article provided the example of Amazon duplicating a best-selling brand of shirts. The company reportedly copied the shirt measurements exactly then collaborated with the product manufacturer to create a version similar in quality.
The letter then cited testimony wherein Bezos and others alleged that Amazon adheres to policies prohibiting such unfair practices. For example, in July 2019, Amazon’s Associate General Counsel reportedly testified before the subcommittee that “we do not use any seller data for – to compete with them,” adding that the company does not “use any of that specific seller data in creating our own private brand products.”
The correspondence stated six questions that it seeks sworn responses to, including a clarification of how Amazon utilizes individual seller data to develop and advertise its own line of products, and how it advantages its own products over others’ in search rankings, including through the use of undisclosed sponsored results. The letter also asks for all documents related to the aforementioned Reuters report.
The signatories are House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Antitrust Subcommittee Vice Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
