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If Amazon fails to comply with the auditing requirements imposed by law, their entire retail shipping business could be closed by the US federal government. The

If Amazon fails to comply with the auditing requirements imposed by law, their entire retail shipping business could be closed by the US federal government. The FDA need only prove that Amazon has a pattern of negligence in their product auditing duties under law, in order to impose severe penalties, up to and including shuttering Amazon FBA. The FDA is not required to perform inventory assessments as a free service for Amazon in order to reach that final outcome. This letter is the first, necessary, step towards doing so.

serial_dev 3y ago
I assume it's still a move with lots of politicking involved, so they need to stand on solid grounds, proof and all, I don't think they would every take lightly closing down vone of the biggest companies of the country (and the world). If it ever happened, I can already see the endless coverage by Sean Hannity and similar about how it's governmental overreach that risks destroying an important US company with X thousands employees... However, I don't think it will ever happen, in the end it's one of the richest men, Jeff Bezos behind Amazon with significant influence on news reporting, who seems to be on good terms with both the Republicans and Democrats, and the regulatory agencies in the US just didn't show a pattern of going too hard against US companies.
- altairprime 3y ago
  I definitely don’t have a well-formed opinion on how likely such an outcome is, but I absolutely believe that discussing that outcome as a serious concern is necessary discussion to have.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  It's a good thing that regulatory actions are slow going and difficult to prove under the law, otherwise the commons would be subject to powertripping leaders above clouds far more than they are already. It also means that if things do get to such a point, then the action will come down swift and heavy in a manner generally agreeable to the majority of the commons.
- trogdor 3y ago
  Let’s assume that the FDA doesn’t shut Amazon down. When that happens, what would it take to convince you that the reason for the FDA’s decision is Amazon’s compliance with the law, rather than Jeff Bezos’s influence over the government and news media?
  - danaris 3y ago
    Well, how much information about Amazon's behavior prior to this are you allowing us to take into account in that determination? Sure; if the only piece of information under consideration is "the FDA did not shut Amazon down," Occam's Razor says that we should expect that to be because Amazon did not do anything that would lead to them being shut down. But if we get to bring in all the information we have about what Amazon did do, much of which certainly appears to be conduct that would lead to some kind of regulatory penalty...well, then, it seems like it might be reasonable to consider alternative explanations for the outcome.
    - trogdor 3y ago
      It’s usually a good idea to be open to alternative explanations, but that wasn’t my question.
Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago
> their entire retail shipping business could be closed by the US federal government Not in this universe. The more likely outcome is that Amazon shuts down the FDA.

serial_dev 3y ago

I assume it's still a move with lots of politicking involved, so they need to stand on solid grounds, proof and all, I don't think they would every take lightly closing down vone of the biggest companies of the country (and the world). If it ever happened, I can already see the endless coverage by Sean Hannity and similar about how it's governmental overreach that risks destroying an important US company with X thousands employees... However, I don't think it will ever happen, in the end it's one of the richest men, Jeff Bezos behind Amazon with significant influence on news reporting, who seems to be on good terms with both the Republicans and Democrats, and the regulatory agencies in the US just didn't show a pattern of going too hard against US companies.

altairprime 3y ago
I definitely don’t have a well-formed opinion on how likely such an outcome is, but I absolutely believe that discussing that outcome as a serious concern is necessary discussion to have.
Dalewyn 3y ago
It's a good thing that regulatory actions are slow going and difficult to prove under the law, otherwise the commons would be subject to powertripping leaders above clouds far more than they are already. It also means that if things do get to such a point, then the action will come down swift and heavy in a manner generally agreeable to the majority of the commons.
trogdor 3y ago
Let’s assume that the FDA doesn’t shut Amazon down. When that happens, what would it take to convince you that the reason for the FDA’s decision is Amazon’s compliance with the law, rather than Jeff Bezos’s influence over the government and news media?
- danaris 3y ago
  Well, how much information about Amazon's behavior prior to this are you allowing us to take into account in that determination? Sure; if the only piece of information under consideration is "the FDA did not shut Amazon down," Occam's Razor says that we should expect that to be because Amazon did not do anything that would lead to them being shut down. But if we get to bring in all the information we have about what Amazon did do, much of which certainly appears to be conduct that would lead to some kind of regulatory penalty...well, then, it seems like it might be reasonable to consider alternative explanations for the outcome.
  - trogdor 3y ago
    It’s usually a good idea to be open to alternative explanations, but that wasn’t my question.

Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago

> their entire retail shipping business could be closed by the US federal government Not in this universe. The more likely outcome is that Amazon shuts down the FDA.