Amazon discusses the role of online marketplaces
3 January 2019
The Communications Committee questions a representative of Amazon in the final evidence session of its inquiry into internet regulation
- Parliament TV: The Internet: to regulate or not to regulate?
- Inquiry: The Internet: to regulate or not to regulate?
- Select Committee on Communications
Background
According to one measure Amazon is the UK's fifth largest retailer, accounting for £4 in every £100 spent and forecast to have accounted for 33.5% of all UK spend online in 2017. In addition to its shopping platform, its subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) leads the market in cloud computing services.
The Committee asks about the emergence of marketplace platforms as an infrastructural and economic model for the internet.
Witness
Tuesday 8 January, Committee Room 2, Palace of Westminster
At 3.30pm
- Lesley Smith, Director Public Policy, UK & Ireland, Amazon
Possible lines of questioning
Topics likely to be covered in the evidence session include:
- The regulation of cloud computing
- The trade in personal data
- The risk of platform-based market abuse where platforms leverage their power as intermediaries
- Mergers and acquisitions involving digital communications technology or 'big data'
- Algorithmic transparency.
Further information
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