Digitrade Weekly Digest #2
Consumer Groups Target Amazon Prime’s Cancellation Process, Biden Selects Acting FTC Chair, USTR pauses Section 301 duties on France
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Digitrade Headlines
Amazon Makes It Too Hard to Cancel Prime, Groups Tell FTC
Bloomberg: “In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday (1/14), a group led by Public Citizen said the steps required to cancel Prime “are designed to unfairly and deceptively undermine the will of the consumer,” and may violate FTC rules as well as other consumer protection laws. The letter draws on a complaint by Norway’s consumer protection agency, which on Thursday (1/14) asked Norwegian regulators to determine whether Amazon violated local law.”
New York Times: “It should be as easy to end a subscription as it was to subscribe in the first place,” said Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, the director of digital policy for the rights group, the Norwegian Consumer Council. “This practice not only betrays the expectations and trust of consumers but breaches European law.”
BBC: “The study from the NCC said that on each of the six pages in the cancellation process, the consumer "is nudged towards keeping their Prime membership".
The pages include yellow warning triangles with an exclamation point inside and buttons containing the text "keep my benefits".
This, it said, is an example of "dark patterns" - which it defines as techniques or features of design that are meant to manipulate users.”
Singapore and New Zealand to enter digital trade agreement
Foreign Brief: “The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) between New Zealand, Singapore, and Chile will enter into force today.
The agreement, signed in June of last year, establishes a common set of rules on digital trade, removing digital barriers for businesses in each country. This is the second digital trade agreement signed by Singapore, following a similar agreement with Australia that entered into force on December 8 last year. This year’s deal strives to provide a common framework for trading in the information and technology sector. It provides lower operating costs by eliminating digital barriers and creates a common framework for personal data protection.”
UK will submit request to join CPTPP trading bloc soon - trade minister
Reuters: “Britain is seeking bilateral trade deals with Australia, New Zealand and has already agreed a deal with Canada that maintains the terms Britain had as an EU member. It has also signed a deal with Japan that goes beyond the existing EU deal.
Full membership of the CPTPP would supplement these deals and offer better access to economies that represent around 13% of global economic output.
[Trade Minister Liz] Truss is also hoping the change in U.S. administration will unlock progress towards what ministers see as one of the biggest post-Brexit prizes - a free trade agreement with the United States.”
Digital Services Tax: USTR Pauses Section 301 Duties on Products of France; Additional Determinations on Products of Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK
GreenbergTraurig: “Effective Jan. 6, 2021, the Office of United States Trade Representative (USTR) has suspended additional tariffs on products from France that were previously set to go into effect the same day. The tariffs were to be imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 following an investigation in which USTR found France’s digital services tax (DST) discriminatory to U.S. companies and restricting U.S. commerce. USTR had announced the imposition of an additional 25% duty on specific products from France, including cosmetics, soaps, and handbags.”
US claims digital code breaks free trade deal
Financial Review: “The US Trade Representative raised concerns that the "discrimination" in favour of local traditional media publishers "could raise concerns with respect to Australia’s international trade obligations".
"We urge Australia to consider whether the potential breadth of the obligation imposed on designated platforms is consistent with ... AUSFTA, which constrains parties with respect to performance requirements, specifically requirements to 'transfer a particular technology, a production process, or other proprietary knowledge to a person in its territory'," the USTR said in a January 15 submission.”
US finds UK's digital tax discriminates against US digital companies
Pinsent Masons: “In June 2020, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer announced that his office was investigating digital services taxes adopted or under consideration by the UK, Spain, Italy and the EU as well as a number of other countries, with a view to deciding whether the US should take retaliatory action. The report containing the results of that investigation into the UK DST has now been published.
The report refers to statements made by three Labour party politicians mentioning taxing specific US companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon and a statement from prime minister Boris Johnson on taxing "big digital companies" as evidence of "an intention to target US companies with special, unfavourable tax treatment".”
Germany and France push forward with Big Tech crackdown, rather than waiting for EU-wide laws
Fortune: “Europe may be gearing up to crack down on Big Tech with a set of new laws covering antitrust and illegal content, but its most influential countries—Germany and France—aren't hanging around to see how that works out.
On Tuesday, Germany's competition regulator—the Bundeskartellamt, or Federal Cartel Office—gained the ability to restrict the activities of tech firms that are of "overriding importance across markets." For example, a dominant e-commerce giant won't be allowed to favor its own products over those sold by third-party merchants over its platform, or to stymie its competitors by withholding certain data from them.”
Biden selects Slaughter as acting chair of Federal Trade Commission, Rosenworcel as acting chair of Federal Communications Commission
Washington Post: “President Biden on Thursday appointed Rebecca Kelly Slaughter as acting chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, a move that positions the Washington watchdog agency to take on a more aggressive role in policing Facebook, Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley.
Biden also designated Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission. Rosenworcel is a fervent supporter of net neutrality and has called on the FCC for years to put its muscle behind a massive effort to build out broadband to the country’s most unserved communities.
The two appointments reflect the tectonic political shift underway in Washington as Democrats, newly in charge of the White House and Congress, prepare to roll back a slew of deregulatory actions implemented under President Donald Trump. Biden and his congressional counterparts over the past year have teased an ambitious digital agenda, promising to rein in Silicon Valley, rethink the legal protections afforded to tech giants and expand internet access nationwide.”
The Digitrade Digest is a weekly publication of the Digital Rights Program at Public Citizen.