Using Competitors’ Data – a Role for Competition Law? Some Thoughts on the Amazon Marketplace Case

Abstract

Based on the Commission’s investigation into Amazon’s practices, the article analyses whether Amazon’s use of sensitive data from independent retailers who sell via its marketplace may raise anticompetitive concerns and, if so, how they should be tackled, in particular, whether competition law is the right tool to address these concerns. Amazon’s conduct, which is being investigated by the Commission, does not easily fit in with well-established theories of harm. Therefore, it is proposed to develop new theories of harm that would be specifically tailored to challenges of digital markets and online platforms’ business models. Amazon’s conduct could be regarded as a forced free-riding, predatory copying, abusive leveraging or self-preferencing. It is also argued that some of the competition concerns that may arise from the use of competitors’ data by online intermediation platforms such as Amazon could be more efficiently tackled by introducing a regulation, such as the Digital Markets Act.

Keywords

• article 102 tfeu
• competition law
• online platforms
• use of data
• vertical integration