Amazon to be quizzed by Lords on internet regulation
The House of Lords Communications Committee will question a representative of Amazon as part of its inquiry into internet regulation on Tuesday 8 January. This will be the final session of the inquiry.
According to one measure Amazon is the UK's fifth largest retailer, accounting for £4 in every £100 spent and forecast to have accounted for 33.5% of all UK spend online in 2017. In addition to its shopping platform, its subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) leads the market in cloud computing services.
The Committee will ask Lesley Smith, Director Public Policy, UK & Ireland, about the emergence of marketplace platforms as an infrastructural and economic model for the internet.
The evidence session will begin at 3.30pm in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. Topics of discussion will include:
- The regulation of cloud computing
- The trade in personal data
- The risk of platform-based market abuse where platforms leverage their power as intermediaries
- Mergers and acquisitions involving digital communications technology or ‘big data'
- Algorithmic transparency.
