Amazon Fined For Free Shipping in France

By Nick Mokey January 15, 2008

Of all the dirty business practices we’ve seen companies get nailed for in the past, offering free shipping with no strings attached has never been one of them. But according to the International Herald Tribune, this staple of Amazon.com service caused quite a stir in France, where the American site actually faces a legal battle to keep its shipping free.

The problem lies not French consumers, but with a union. A French booksellers’ union took Amazon to court for its practices, claiming free shipping violated the 1981 Lang Law, which sets minimum prices that retailers can charge for books. The intent when the law was made was to prevent any one seller from undercutting all the others and controlling what the French public was reading.

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A court outside of Paris found that Amazon did violate the law, and awarded the booksellers €100,000 back in December. However, Amazon is continuing its fight for free shipping in the French legal system, and in the mean time, continues to offer it in France by footing a €1,000-per-day fine.

“France would be the only country in the world where the free delivery practiced by Amazon would be declared illegal,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote to French customers in a recent e-mail. Along with explaining the situation to them, Bezos asked for support, and has since filled a petition with 120,000 names in favor of Amazon’s policy.

The French legal system will only allow Amazon to pay the €1,000 fine for 30 days, at which point it will be reevaluated. Since the Lang Law has been called into question several times before and upheld in every instance, some French legal scholars see little hope the fine will be abolished, and instead believe it will be increased.

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