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- If Google removed Amazon from search results, then that would be anti-competitive behavior. - If Apple banned the Amazon app from iTunes, then that would be

- If Google removed Amazon from search results, then that would be anti-competitive behavior. - If Apple banned the Amazon app from iTunes, then that would be anti-competitive behavior. You can still access Amazon in all these situations at amazon.com, and just like with the chromecast and Apple TV, whether or not there is access somewhere is irrelevant to the nature of the behavior being anti-competitive. Amazon was being anti-competitive by banning competing devices on it's - platform.

scarface74 7y ago
Apple bans all sorts of apps from their store. Is every app that Apple bans “anticompetitive”? Google removes and deprioritizes sites all the time that breaks rules. CVS stop selling cigarettes in their stores. CloudFlare just kicked off 8Chan. Spotify bans musicians. Which one of these are anti competitive and which ones aren’t?
- xmprt 7y ago
  All of those scenarios are where there was a terms of service violation. When Google or Apple decide to ban their competition for no reason other than it being competition, it's anti-competitive.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    So since Apple sells third party hardware at Apple.com, should they be forced to sell Dells?
    - bduerst 7y ago
      Apple stores only sells accessories to their manufactured products, and isn't a retail platform. If Apple opened stores that sold a wide range a goods, including from other sellers, and then banned Dell, then yes, your hypothetical would be anticompetitive.
      - scarface74 7y ago
        Then why aren’t apps an “accessory” to the iPhone where Apple can decide not to allow certain apps - including hypothetically Amazon? Do the console makers have a right to deny certain games on their platform? Does a physical store have to sell every product imaginable?
        bduerst 7y ago
        Because the app store is an app commerce platform that other companies list and sell things through. Apps are not accessories to hardware, and splitting hairs on the semantics is kind of banal. Are you aware of what sea-lioning is?
        scarface74 7y ago
        When you buy an app from the App Store. Apple claims the entire price of the app as revenue, pays out the developer and gives the developer a 1099 at the end of the year. My relationship is no more with the third party app developer when I buy an app from the App Store than it is if I buy a third party accessory from the Apple Store or if I buy something from Walmart. There is no difference.
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    Easy, Amazon just adds “no devices may be sold that compete with ours” to their TOS.
- bduerst 7y ago
  There's a difference between enforcing a TOS for everyone and specifically banning someone who is a competitor.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    So if CVS wanted to sell their store drug brands at Walmart and Walmart refused, would that be anti competitive?
    - bduerst 7y ago
      No that is not anti-competitive, because Wal-Mart isn't a platform that lets other companies sell through their stores. Wal-mart is notorious for using it's buying power to push down the purchase prices for it's inventory. This type of question has already been answered. Are you aware of what sea-lioning is?
      - scarface74 7y ago
        So Walmart isn’t a “platform” even though they sell goods from third parties but Amazon is a platform that sells goods from third parties? What’s the difference?

scarface74 7y ago

Apple bans all sorts of apps from their store. Is every app that Apple bans “anticompetitive”? Google removes and deprioritizes sites all the time that breaks rules. CVS stop selling cigarettes in their stores. CloudFlare just kicked off 8Chan. Spotify bans musicians. Which one of these are anti competitive and which ones aren’t?

xmprt 7y ago
All of those scenarios are where there was a terms of service violation. When Google or Apple decide to ban their competition for no reason other than it being competition, it's anti-competitive.
- scarface74 7y ago
  So since Apple sells third party hardware at Apple.com, should they be forced to sell Dells?
  - bduerst 7y ago
    Apple stores only sells accessories to their manufactured products, and isn't a retail platform. If Apple opened stores that sold a wide range a goods, including from other sellers, and then banned Dell, then yes, your hypothetical would be anticompetitive.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      Then why aren’t apps an “accessory” to the iPhone where Apple can decide not to allow certain apps - including hypothetically Amazon? Do the console makers have a right to deny certain games on their platform? Does a physical store have to sell every product imaginable?
      - bduerst 7y ago
        Because the app store is an app commerce platform that other companies list and sell things through. Apps are not accessories to hardware, and splitting hairs on the semantics is kind of banal. Are you aware of what sea-lioning is?
        scarface74 7y ago
        When you buy an app from the App Store. Apple claims the entire price of the app as revenue, pays out the developer and gives the developer a 1099 at the end of the year. My relationship is no more with the third party app developer when I buy an app from the App Store than it is if I buy a third party accessory from the Apple Store or if I buy something from Walmart. There is no difference.
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  Easy, Amazon just adds “no devices may be sold that compete with ours” to their TOS.
bduerst 7y ago
There's a difference between enforcing a TOS for everyone and specifically banning someone who is a competitor.
- scarface74 7y ago
  So if CVS wanted to sell their store drug brands at Walmart and Walmart refused, would that be anti competitive?
  - bduerst 7y ago
    No that is not anti-competitive, because Wal-Mart isn't a platform that lets other companies sell through their stores. Wal-mart is notorious for using it's buying power to push down the purchase prices for it's inventory. This type of question has already been answered. Are you aware of what sea-lioning is?
    - scarface74 7y ago
      So Walmart isn’t a “platform” even though they sell goods from third parties but Amazon is a platform that sells goods from third parties? What’s the difference?