French Government Seeking To Ban Amazon From Providing Discounts and Free Delivery

Not fans of competition

(Reuters)—France's Socialist government aims to introduce a law preventing online retailer Amazon from offering both discounts and free delivery for books in France, the culture minister said, arguing this amounts to unfair competition.

Aurelie Filippetti said the government was looking for the right time to introduce a ban on the practice, which book sellers say threatens theirbusiness model by allowing Amazon to undercut their prices.

"I'm in favor of ending the possibility of offering both free delivery and a five percent discount," she told BFM news television on Friday. "We need a law, so we're going to find a legislative window to introduce one."

Amazon in France declined to comment.