
Merchant Says Amazon Sabotaged Its Business - FluidDjango
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203391104577125000743279834.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews
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ukdm
Bullet point summary of what M-Edge states happened between 2009-2011 here:

[http://www.geek.com/articles/news/kindle-case-maker-m-
edge-s...](http://www.geek.com/articles/news/kindle-case-maker-m-edge-sues-
amazon-for-patent-infringement-unfair-competition-20111228/)

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stevanl
Certainly seems that the only people that get treated well by Amazon are its
customers. Employees seem to be treated fairly badly and partners apparently
too.

This could be an interesting PR tactic too, as it must make it tough to
convince happy Amazon customers to join in any sort of movement against
Amazon, because they don't feel the same way as the employees/partners.

~~~
azylman
Amazon: the new Walmart?

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JS_startup
Sadly this sounds like business as usual for small companies who sell
accessories or add-ons for larger products.

I imagine if the execs in charge of "encouraging" M-Edge to play along hadn't
been so heavy handed then we would have never even heard about this.

~~~
ukdm
This looks to be more than a heavy-handed approach. Amazon kept updating the
terms in order to stifle M-Edge. They even demanded a cut of the profits from
sales to other retailers, while at the same time copying (and infringing)
M-Edge's jacket design. At least, that's what is being claimed in the lawsuit.

~~~
jonknee
That's pretty much the name of the game in the accessory market. You're never
going to have as much information as the company who makes the device and they
are always going to want a chunk.

See Apple for a good example, they're snatching 10% of all accessories off the
top (that's for all sales, with they're own massive sales channel the return
really fattens up). Not to mention that Apple makes and markets their own
accessories.

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Terretta
> _Not to mention that Apple makes and markets their own accessories._

It's interesting to me that you cannot, and never could, buy an Apple case[1]
for your iPhone. Also interesting how quickly Apple killed their Bluetooth
earpiece.

Seems like if you want to make accessories, making them for Apple's devices
means you _don't_ have to worry about competing with the device maker.

    
    
      - - -
    

1\. Where "case" is defined as a container to protect the device from _both_
screen damage and drops. Apple does sell two items that protect the iPhone
from one or the other, but not both:

[http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/iphone_acc...](http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/iphone_accessories/cases#m.manufacturer=apple)

Apple also sells the non-drop-protecting case for original iPad, but it's so
unattractive that its purpose seems to have been to have a cover at launch
without leaking device specs, rather than to take advantage of the case
market. iPad 2's "Smart Cover" also isn't a case, so seems to be Apple's way
of carrying the iPod color choice concept over to the iPad line.

~~~
jonknee
I think it was probably due to Steve Jobs' insistence that the device as
shipped was perfect and that a case is ugly and not necessary. He seemed
pretty stoked about the Smart Cover because it added to the iPad instead of
covering it up.

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mattvot
From my brief overview of the situation, it seems ethically questionable for
Amazon to do this, but not unlawful.

Should it really be against the law to reduce the visibility of a competitors
accessory for your own product on your own site? I don't think so.

I would have a different position if Amazon started harassing competition on
other sites, like eBay.

It's more of a question of bad business on the M-Edge side. Don't rely on your
competition for business. You'll get stuck when they decide to change.

~~~
overgryphon
You could have said the same thing about internet browsers on a companies own
operating system a decade or so ago.

If a company is building a platform, they face antitrust issues with
competitors using their platform.

~~~
mattvot
Perhaps, but it's kinda different with websites. There are plenty of alternate
marketplaces for products on the web other than Amazon. It's not the same as
Microsoft having the vast majority of the market.

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bgentry
Please, no pay walled articles on HN.

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mathattack
This highlights the risk of being a small player at the beck and call of a
much larger one.

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caseysoftware
It's the same problem 3rd party devs have had with Twitter, anyone who uses
the Facebook API, and a variety of other groups.

When your product is _wholly dependent_ on a single component from a single
vendor... risky is an understatement.

~~~
mathattack
It's size too. If you don't have something they want, they have no incentive
to help you. If you are small, the Not Invented Here syndrome pushes them to
think they could donut better themselves.

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vaksel
not really that surprising really, Kindle accessories had a target on their
back from day 1.

