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Why are regulators incapable of assessing meaningful punitive damages? 2.5 million is peanuts to Amazon.

by ghostly_s 5y ago

philipov 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
cellis 5y ago
Phrased another way, 2.5 million is roughly 3 minutes of revenue for Amazon.
reaperducer 5y ago
It's not great that corps get away with paying such small fines. But in a case like this, I surmise that it's a way for the AG to extract a fine that is big enough to be meaningful to some people, but small enough that Amazon isn't going to drag it through the courts for the next decade.
- Aloha 5y ago
  Its big enough that someones bonus pool got wiped out.
  - cellis 5y ago
    Doubtful. In house Counsel probably pocketed a fat bonus for this masterful litigation.
dgrin91 5y ago
Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages is that the offending program is ceased. From the press release - > Amazon will shut down the “Sold by Amazon” program nationwide. So in principle the problem has been stopped. Now whether Amazon will make a new "Buy from Amazon" program in 5 seconds that will have slightly modified details is to be seen...
- rbobby 5y ago
  > Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages Every single consumer that bought a product from one of these third party sellers, or a matching product from Amazon, has been cheated out of several dollars. For each product, for each sale... that adds up to way more than $2.5 million. And the funny part is that a few database queries could likely surface exactly who has been harmed, how many times, and a gross sale amount affected. Easy proof for a class action?
- NovemberWhiskey 5y ago
  The "offending program" ceased in 2020, though, didn't it?
- xdennis 5y ago
  > Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages is that the offending program is ceased. That's not how we punish other crimes. We don't give serial killers 1 year in prison and set them loose because the killin' spree has ceased.
goodpoint 5y ago
Because regulators pocket "lobbying" money.
moozilla 5y ago
From the article, the fee is to support the AG enforcement, it's not meant as a meaningful punitive damage. > In addition, Amazon will pay $2.25 million to the Attorney General’s Office, which will be used to support the Attorney General’s antitrust enforcement, which does not receive general fund support.
- Maarten88 5y ago
  > which does not receive general fund support This is the part that surprised me most. So instead of the government making sure that the market is kept fair using taxation, the AG finances this function by extracting money for its own use from offenders? That seems fishy to me.

Why are regulators incapable of assessing meaningful punitive damages? 2.5 million is peanuts to Amazon.

philipov 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

cellis 5y ago

Phrased another way, 2.5 million is roughly 3 minutes of revenue for Amazon.

reaperducer 5y ago

It's not great that corps get away with paying such small fines. But in a case like this, I surmise that it's a way for the AG to extract a fine that is big enough to be meaningful to some people, but small enough that Amazon isn't going to drag it through the courts for the next decade.

Aloha 5y ago
Its big enough that someones bonus pool got wiped out.
- cellis 5y ago
  Doubtful. In house Counsel probably pocketed a fat bonus for this masterful litigation.

dgrin91 5y ago

Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages is that the offending program is ceased. From the press release - > Amazon will shut down the “Sold by Amazon” program nationwide. So in principle the problem has been stopped. Now whether Amazon will make a new "Buy from Amazon" program in 5 seconds that will have slightly modified details is to be seen...

rbobby 5y ago
> Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages Every single consumer that bought a product from one of these third party sellers, or a matching product from Amazon, has been cheated out of several dollars. For each product, for each sale... that adds up to way more than $2.5 million. And the funny part is that a few database queries could likely surface exactly who has been harmed, how many times, and a gross sale amount affected. Easy proof for a class action?
NovemberWhiskey 5y ago
The "offending program" ceased in 2020, though, didn't it?
xdennis 5y ago
> Arguably the more important outcome than monetary damages is that the offending program is ceased. That's not how we punish other crimes. We don't give serial killers 1 year in prison and set them loose because the killin' spree has ceased.

goodpoint 5y ago

Because regulators pocket "lobbying" money.

moozilla 5y ago

From the article, the fee is to support the AG enforcement, it's not meant as a meaningful punitive damage. > In addition, Amazon will pay $2.25 million to the Attorney General’s Office, which will be used to support the Attorney General’s antitrust enforcement, which does not receive general fund support.

Maarten88 5y ago
> which does not receive general fund support This is the part that surprised me most. So instead of the government making sure that the market is kept fair using taxation, the AG finances this function by extracting money for its own use from offenders? That seems fishy to me.