Italian fine of more than 173 million euros for Amazon and Apple has been canceled

An Italian court has canceled a fine imposed on Apple and Amazon by the market authority AGCM. The court ruled, among other things, that the American companies were not given enough time by the regulator to defend themselves.

From the documents of a administrative court in the Italian region of Lazio it turns out that the fine of 173.3 million euros was canceled on Monday. Apple and Amazon were fined last year because the companies entered into an agreement restricting the sale of the Apple and Beats products at Amazon. Only Amazon itself “and certain pre-selected sellers” were allowed to sell the items through Amazon.

The third parties were “chosen in a discriminatory manner”, the Italian market watchdog concluded at the time. As a result, Amazon was fined €68.7 million, while Apple was fined €134.5 million. The joint fine amounted to 203 million euros, which was reduced to more than 173 million euros at the beginning of this year. The AGCM had made an error in the calculation of the fine, Reuters wrote at the time.

The companies appealed and were found in favor of the court, which concluded that the AGCM had failed in its investigation. For example, the regulator had not collected sufficient evidence that Apple and Amazon were violating competition rules. Also, the AGCM had not given the companies enough time to defend themselves and prove otherwise, writes the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Amazon says it is satisfied with the court’s decision. Apple itself has not yet responded. The AGCM has not yet responded.