The Italian fine of over 173 million euros for Amazon and Apple canceled – IT Pro – News

An Italian court overturned a fine imposed on Apple and Amazon by the market authority AGCM. The court ruled, among other things, that American companies did not have enough time for the regulator to defend themselves.

From the documents of a administrative court of the Italian region of Lazio it turns out that on Monday the fine of 173.3 million euros was canceled. Apple and Amazon they were fined last year, because the companies have an agreement that restricts the sale of Apple and Beats products on Amazon. Only Amazon itself “and some preselected sellers” could sell items through Amazon.

Third parties were “chosen in a discriminatory manner”, concluded the Italian Market Observatory at the time. As a result, Amazon was fined € 68.7 million, while Apple was fined € 134.5 million. The collective fine amounted to € 203 million, reduced to over € 173 million earlier this year. The AGCM had made an error in calculating the penalty, Reuters wrote at the time.

The companies filed an appeal and ruled in favor of the judge, who held that the AGCM had failed in the investigation. For example, the regulator had not gathered enough evidence that Apple and Amazon were violating competition rules. Furthermore, the AGCM had not given the companies the time necessary to defend themselves and prove the contrary, writes the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Amazon is satisfied with the court’s decision. Apple itself has not yet responded. The AGCM has not yet responded.

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