Amazon’s newest mistake raises the question of accountability.
Last month, Amazon US sent out pre-ordered copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments a week before its launch date, because of a technical error. They have since apologised, saying that they ‘value [their] relationship with authors, agents, and publishers, and regret the difficulties this has caused them and [their] fellow booksellers.’ (Wood, 2019)
- The consequences.
Amazon has broken ‘a worldwide embargo’ (Wood, 2019), which was made to prevent leaks of the book. Indeed, independent booksellers had not yet received their copies of the book, unlike Amazon. Rachel Cass, who works for the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, said that ‘her store had signed PRH’s “very strict, very clearly-stated affidavit” swearing to abide by the embargo and, as a result, she […] has not even received her boxes of books yet.’ (Kirch, 2019). She also worries that ‘[customers] will just see that Amazon can supply them a book and we can’t. They might not come in next time.’ (Flood, 2019).
As a result, booksellers request that Amazon be punished by PRH. However, they worry there will be no consequences, as Lexi Beach, an American bookseller, has pointed out in several tweets: ‘I do not expect that @Nan_A_Talese or @penguinrandom will pursue any of the theoretical consequences […].’ In Beach’s opinion, Amazon has such a huge influence in the publishing industry that even PRH can not allow themselves to risk damaging their relationship with them.
2. Amazon’s accountability.
Amazon is such a huge company that it would be hard for publishers to punish them without facing consequences. Does that mean that Amazon can bypass embargos and other laws?
The $10 billion profit company is at the centre of increasing issues, from questionable ethical standards regarding employees (Revel, 2018), not only in their main company but also on Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourced online research founded by them (Pittman and Sheehan, 2016), to counterfeiting and plagiarism (Tiffany, 2019).
As a result, measures have been taken by governments and customers alike, to make Amazon more accountable. Indeed, in April 2019, the European Parliament approved the ‘platform to business’ law, to ensure online giants like Amazon would treat rivals and customers fairly. These rules include ‘a blacklist of unfair trading practices, require companies to set up an internal system to handle complaints, and allow businesses to group together to sue platforms.’ (Strasbourg, 2019).
Petitions have also been created, like the ‘Stop Bezos: Vote for Amazon accountability now!’ on SumOfUs, in May 2019. It received more than 54,000 signatures, and demanded that Amazon ‘come clean on climate change’ and ‘stop delivering hate’.
But that is not all. In July, a decision made by a federal appeals court in the US stated that Amazon can be held liable for third-party sellers product. This case started in 2015, when Heather Oberdof, the plaintiff, got blind in one eye because of a dog’s leash she bought on Amazon from a third-party seller (Kominers, 2019). This decision was made because according to the court, Amazon’s business plan ‘enables third-party vendors to conceal themselves from the customer, leaving customers injured by defective products with no direct recourse to the third-party vendor.’ (Pierson, 2019). However, the case was sent back to the lower court, which will ultimately have the final word.
Amazon is an online giant and has escaped accountability for many years. However, it seems times are changing, as more and more initiatives are made to make the company responsible for its actions.
Wood, H. (2019) ‘Amazon US delivers pre-order copies of The Testaments a week early’, The Bookseller, 4 September. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/atwoods-testaments-released-week-early-due-retailer-error-1078376 (Accessed 25/09/19)
Wood, H. (2019) ‘Amazon apologises for “technical error” following early US release of The Testaments’, The Bookseller, 5 September. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/amazon-apologises-technical-error-following-early-release-testaments-us-1078526 (Accessed 25/09/19)
Flood, A. (2019) ‘Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale sequel escapes from tight secrecy’, The Guardian, 4 September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/04/margaret-atwoods-handmaid-s-tale-sequel-tight-secrecy-the-testaments (Accessed 25/09/19)
Lexi Beach’s tweeter account: @lexiatwork (tweets from 4 September 2019)
Kirch, C. (2019) ‘Indie Booksellers Incensed as Amazon Breaks ‘Testaments’ Embargo’, Publisher’s Weekly, 4 September. Available at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/81085-indie-booksellers-incensed-as-amazon-breaks-testaments embargo.html (Accessed 25/09/19)
Revel, A. (2018) ‘Amazon is more dangerous than ever — and publishers need a plan’, The Bookseller, 5 December. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/futurebook/amazon-more-dangerous-ever-and-publishers-need-plan-899551 (Accessed 25/09/19)
Tiffany, K. (2019) ‘How Amazon benefits from counterfeit books’, Vox, 24 June. Available at: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/6/24/18715584/amazon-counterfeit-book-problem-nyt-project-zero (Accessed 25/09/19)
Cover of The Testaments, available at https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/nov/margaret-atwood-announces-sequel-handmaids-tale-the-testaments/ (Accessed 27/09/19)
Pittman, M and Sheehan, K. ‘Amazon’s Mechanical Turk a Digital Sweatshop? Transparency and Accountability in Crowdsourced Online Research’, Journal of Media Ethics. Oct-Dec2016, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p260–262. 3p.
Strasbourg, R. (2019) ‘New EU rules raise the accountability bar for Google, Amazon and Facebook’, The Hindu Business Line, 17 April. Available at: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/new-eu-rules-raise-the-accountability-bar-for-google-amazon-and-facebook/article26866850.ece (Accessed 1/10/19)
‘Stop Bezos: Vote FOR Amazon accountability now!’, SumOfUS. Available at: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/stop-bezos-vote-for-amazon-accountability-now (Accessed 1/10/19)
Pierson, B. (2019) ‘Amazon can be held liable for third-party seller products: U.S. appeals court’, Reuters.com, 3 July. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-liability/amazon-can-be-held-liable-for-third-party-seller-products-u-s-appeals-court idUSKCN1TY2HM (Accessed 1/10/19)
Kominers, S. (2019) ‘Amazon Should Be Held Partially Responsible for Third Party Sellers: Viewpoint’, Insurance Journal, 26 July. Available at: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2019/07/26/534036.htm (Accessed 1/10/19)
