Is Amazon the Next Google?
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All In: Staying the Course on Our Commitment to Sustainability
All In: Staying the Course on Our Commitment to Sustainability Amazon Sustainability • December 2020 • sustainability.aboutamazon.com Table of Contents Introduction: Our World in 2020 3 About 5 Environment 19 People 52 Governance 90 Our World in 2020 WHILE THIS REPORT reflects our work throughout 2019, the world has clearly undergone a massive shift in 2020 with the emergence of COVID-19. We are, first and foremost, focused on the safety of our employees and contractors around the world. It is important that we help our customers through this difficult time, and Amazonians are working around the clock to get necessary supplies delivered directly to the doorsteps of people and organizations who need them. Our Whole Foods Market stores have remained open, providing fresh food and other vital goods for customers. AMAZON EMPLOYEES RECEIVE comprehensive health benefits starting on day one of employment. We are working on building scalable testing for coronavirus. We’ve distributed face masks and implemented temperature checks at sites around the world to help protect employees and support staff, and offer free masks to our Whole Foods Market customers. We regularly sanitize door handles, stairway handrails, lockers, elevator buttons, and touch screens, and disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer are standard across our network. We also introduced extensive social distancing measures to help protect our associates. In all, we have made over 150 significant process changes in our operations network and Whole Foods Market stores, which we audit frequently, to help teams stay healthy. DURING THIS CRISIS, we’ve added 175,000 new jobs to help meet customer demand for essential products. -
Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre
arqus Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre www.arqus.info Diskussionsbeitrag Nr. 3 Caren Sureth / Ralf Maiterth Wealth Tax as Alternative Minimum Tax ? − The Impact of a Wealth Tax on Business Structure and Strategy − April 2005 arqus Diskussionsbeiträge zur Quantitativen Steuerlehre arqus Discussion Papers on Quantitative Tax Research ISSN 1861-8944 Wealth Tax as Alternative Minimum Tax ? – The Impact of a Wealth Tax on Business Structure and Strategy – Caren Sureth∗ † and Ralf Maiterth∗∗ April 2005 ∗ Prof. Dr. Caren Sureth, University of Paderborn, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Warburger Str. 100, D-33098 Paderborn, Germany, e-mail: [email protected] † corresponding author ∗∗ Dr. Ralf Maiterth, University of Hanover, Department of Economics, K¨onigsworther Platz 1, D-30167 Hanover, Germany, e-mail: [email protected] Wealth Tax as Alternative Minimum Tax ? – The Impact of a Wealth Tax on Business Structure and Strategy – Abstract An alternative minimum tax (AMT) is often regarded as desirable. We analyze a wealth tax at corporate and personal level that is designed as an AMT as proposed by the German Green Party. This wealth tax is imputable to profit taxes and is hence intended to prevent multiple (multistage) taxation. Referring to data from annual reports and the German Central Bank we model enterprises of different structure, industry, size and legal status. We show that companies in the service sector which generally maintain rather high gearing rates are more frequently subjected to the wealth tax than capital intensive industries. This result runs counter to well-known effects of a common wealth tax. Capital intensive firms, e.g. in the metal industry, are levied with definitive wealth tax only if they have large loss carry-forwards or extremely volatile profits. -
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Case 5:19-cv-04422 Document 1 Filed 07/31/19 Page 1 of 32 1 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP David M. Grable (Bar No. 237765) 2 [email protected] Valerie Lozano (Bar No. 260020) 3 [email protected] 865 South Figueroa Street, 10th Floor 4 Los Angeles, California 90017-2543 Telephone: (213) 443-3000 5 Facsimile: (213) 443-3100 6 Lindsay M. Cooper (Bar No. 287125) [email protected] 7 50 California Street, 22nd Floor San Francisco, California 94111 8 Telephone: (415) 875-6600 Facsimile: (415) 875-6700 9 Attorneys for eBay Inc. 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 eBay Inc., CASE NO. _____________ 13 Plaintiff EBAY’S COMPLAINT AND DEMAND 14 FOR A JURY TRIAL vs. 15 Sonja Boch, Amanda Sullivan Hedger, and 16 Ernest Arambula, 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 COMPLAINT Case 5:19-cv-04422 Document 1 Filed 07/31/19 Page 2 of 32 1 INTRODUCTION 2 1. Over the past several years, a group of Amazon managers, including Defendants 3 Sonja Boch, Amanda Sullivan Hedger, and Ernest Arambula 1 have conducted the affairs of 4 Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”) through a pattern of racketeering activity—a conspiracy designed 5 to infiltrate and exploit eBay’s internal member email system using fraud and false pretenses, in 6 violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. The managers did this to illegally recruit high-value eBay sellers to 7 Amazon. 8 2. The breadth and scope of the racketeering activity are startling. -
RFP19000698 Statewide Value-Add Resellers for Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS Cloud Services
RFP19000698 Statewide Value-Add Resellers for Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS Cloud Services Attachment 7 (ME) The completion and submission of this Cost Proposal is mandatory. No other proposer supplied pricing shall be evaluated for award. No other proposer supplied pricing shall constitute the pricing for any resulting contract unless accepted in writing by the State of Idaho Division of Purchasing. AZURE VAR PART 1. (M) It is mandatory to provide the following information. PROPOSER COMPANY NAME: COMPANY FEIN NUMBER: PROPOSAL SUMITTED BY: SUBMITTED BY TITLE: SUBMITTED BY PHONE NUMBER: SUBMITTED BY FAX: SUBMITTED BY EMAIL ADDRESS: COMPANY MAILING ADDRESS: DLZP_Mandatory Cost ProposalAzureCloudPricing 1 RFP19000698 Statewide Value-Add Resellers for Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS Cloud Services Attachment 7 DLZP_Mandatory Cost ProposalAzureCloudPricing 2 RFP19000698 Statewide Value-Add Resellers for Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS Cloud Services Attachment 7 AZURE VAR PART 2. (M,E) Software as a Service (SaaS) Discount or Markup Percent. Provide the baseline Discount Percent off OR the baseline Markup Percent to MSRP guaranteed for any Commercial or Government Azure SaaS service purchased by the State or Public Agency. Proposers must provide either a discount % or markup % for Commercial SaaS services AND provide either a discount % or markup % for Government SaaS services. The baseline will be the baseline for all Azure SaaS purchases, however the VAR is expected to pass along to the State deeper discounts or reduced markups where allowed by Microsoft. Proposers may only choose either a "Discount %" or a "Mark-up % under the following headers. Baseline discount/markup percents and volume discount/markup percents will be used for evaluating cost. -
Timeline 1994 July Company Incorporated 1995 July Amazon
Timeline 1994 July Company Incorporated 1995 July Amazon.com Sells First Book, “Fluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought” 1996 July Launches Amazon.com Associates Program 1997 May Announces IPO, Begins Trading on NASDAQ Under “AMZN” September Introduces 1-ClickTM Shopping November Opens Fulfillment Center in New Castle, Delaware 1998 February Launches Amazon.com Advantage Program April Acquires Internet Movie Database June Opens Music Store October Launches First International Sites, Amazon.co.uk (UK) and Amazon.de (Germany) November Opens DVD/Video Store 1999 January Opens Fulfillment Center in Fernley, Nevada March Launches Amazon.com Auctions April Opens Fulfillment Center in Coffeyville, Kansas May Opens Fulfillment Centers in Campbellsville and Lexington, Kentucky June Acquires Alexa Internet July Opens Consumer Electronics, and Toys & Games Stores September Launches zShops October Opens Customer Service Center in Tacoma, Washington Acquires Tool Crib of the North’s Online and Catalog Sales Division November Opens Home Improvement, Software, Video Games and Gift Ideas Stores December Jeff Bezos Named TIME Magazine “Person Of The Year” 2000 January Opens Customer Service Center in Huntington, West Virginia May Opens Kitchen Store August Announces Toys “R” Us Alliance Launches Amazon.fr (France) October Opens Camera & Photo Store November Launches Amazon.co.jp (Japan) Launches Marketplace Introduces First Free Super Saver Shipping Offer (Orders Over $100) 2001 April Announces Borders Group Alliance August Introduces In-Store Pick Up September Announces Target Stores Alliance October Introduces Look Inside The BookTM 2002 June Launches Amazon.ca (Canada) July Launches Amazon Web Services August Lowers Free Super Saver Shipping Threshold to $25 September Opens Office Products Store November Opens Apparel & Accessories Store 2003 April Announces National Basketball Association Alliance June Launches Amazon Services, Inc. -
Smart Speakers & Their Impact on Music Consumption
Everybody’s Talkin’ Smart Speakers & their impact on music consumption A special report by Music Ally for the BPI and the Entertainment Retailers Association Contents 02"Forewords 04"Executive Summary 07"Devices Guide 18"Market Data 22"The Impact on Music 34"What Comes Next? Forewords Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, and Kim Bayley, chief executive of ERA, on the potential of smart speakers for artists 1 and the music industry Forewords Kim Bayley, CEO! Geoff Taylor, CEO! Entertainment Retailers Association BPI and BRIT Awards Music began with the human voice. It is the instrument which virtually Smart speakers are poised to kickstart the next stage of the music all are born with. So how appropriate that the voice is fast emerging as streaming revolution. With fans consuming more than 100 billion the future of entertainment technology. streams of music in 2017 (audio and video), streaming has overtaken CD to become the dominant format in the music mix. The iTunes Store decoupled music buying from the disc; Spotify decoupled music access from ownership: now voice control frees music Smart speakers will undoubtedly give streaming a further boost, from the keyboard. In the process it promises music fans a more fluid attracting more casual listeners into subscription music services, as and personal relationship with the music they love. It also offers a real music is the killer app for these devices. solution to optimising streaming for the automobile. Playlists curated by streaming services are already an essential Naturally there are challenges too. The music industry has struggled to marketing channel for music, and their influence will only increase as deliver the metadata required in a digital music environment. -
Amazon's Antitrust Paradox
LINA M. KHAN Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox abstract. Amazon is the titan of twenty-first century commerce. In addition to being a re- tailer, it is now a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a producer of television and films, a fashion designer, a hardware manufacturer, and a leading host of cloud server space. Although Amazon has clocked staggering growth, it generates meager profits, choosing to price below-cost and ex- pand widely instead. Through this strategy, the company has positioned itself at the center of e- commerce and now serves as essential infrastructure for a host of other businesses that depend upon it. Elements of the firm’s structure and conduct pose anticompetitive concerns—yet it has escaped antitrust scrutiny. This Note argues that the current framework in antitrust—specifically its pegging competi- tion to “consumer welfare,” defined as short-term price effects—is unequipped to capture the ar- chitecture of market power in the modern economy. We cannot cognize the potential harms to competition posed by Amazon’s dominance if we measure competition primarily through price and output. Specifically, current doctrine underappreciates the risk of predatory pricing and how integration across distinct business lines may prove anticompetitive. These concerns are height- ened in the context of online platforms for two reasons. First, the economics of platform markets create incentives for a company to pursue growth over profits, a strategy that investors have re- warded. Under these conditions, predatory pricing becomes highly rational—even as existing doctrine treats it as irrational and therefore implausible. -
Authority and Democracy in Postwar France and West Germany, 1945–1968*
Authority and Democracy in Postwar France and West Germany, 1945–1968* Sonja Levsen Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg In a radio interview in 1966, Theodor Adorno severely criticized what he saw as the faults of the German attitude toward authority. He claimed that “even in the literature on education—and this really is something truly frightening and very German—we find no sign of that uncompromising support for education for ma- turity, which we should be able to take for granted. In the place of maturity we find there a concept of authority, of commitment, or whatever other name these hideosities are given, which is decorated and veiled by existential-ontological arguments which sabotage the idea of maturity. In doing so they work, not just implicitly but quite openly, against the basic conditions required for a democ- racy.”1 Adorno’s diagnosis was characteristic of German educational debates in the late 1960s. It echoed concerns that were common not only among left-wing intellectuals but also in growing segments of the German public. German edu- cation, in this view, tended to undervalue critical thinking and maturity (Mün- digkeit) and was impregnated by an ideology of authority that counteracted the principles of democracy. Intellectuals in the 1960s saw this “authoritarianism” as the base mentality upon which National Socialism had grown and viewed its persistence in the Federal Republic as a “very German” phenomenon, a vestige of the Nazi period. Motivated by the diagnosis of a democratic deficit in 1960s Germany, Theo- dor Adorno delivered a series of radio speeches to the German public. -
Amazon, Hometown Reads, Goodreads
Developing Your On- Line Presence: Amazon, Hometown Reads, Goodreads Presented by Rita Boehm www.ritamboehm.com Facebook: @ author Rita Boehm DISCLAIMER I am not an expert Meet your support staff: Google You Tube Anything you need to learn, you can find via a Google search, and/or on a You Tube video. Social Media/Internet – a free marketing platform Author Central Pictures are Important! IF YOU HAVE A SMART-PHONE, THE PROCESS OF UPLOADING PHOTOS IS SIMPLIFIED. DIFFERENT APPROACHES - - Take a picture (edit/crop with phone’s software) Share/Email picture to yourself Save to your Desktop (or to a folder) Upload to various internet or social media accounts - Take a picture Share it directly to your Facebook page and/or other locations (depending on your phone) - Copy and paste a photo (such as a picture of your book cover from Amazon) to your desktop, upload as needed to other sites. Author Central FREE AUTHOR PAGE - EASY TO SET UP GO TO: WWW.AUTHORCENTRAL.AMAZON.COM - Add biography, photos & videos - Add blog links, - List Events, - Keep page updated - Share your Author page URL to Facebook & Twitter and add to your email signature How to set up your Author Page: - Go to authorcentral.amazon.com - depress the ‘join now’ button and follow the prompts If you need help, there are a variety of free You Tube videos that offer step by step instruction, including this one by Kindlepreneur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-_MWQrDJQ8 Amazon Author Page - samples Notes: “Events” is a perfect place to add the WLOV Expo, book signings, etc. -
Reading Indicators on the Social Networks Goodreads and Librarything and Their Impact on Amazon Nieves González-Fernández- Villavicencio (Sevilla)
Reading indicators on the social networks Goodreads and LibraryThing and their impact on Amazon Nieves González-Fernández- Villavicencio (Sevilla) Summary: The aim of this paper is to identify relations between the most reviews and ratings books in Goodreads and LibraryThing, two of the most impacting social net- works of reading, and the list of top-selling titles in Amazon, the giant of the distribu- tion. After a description of both networks and study of their web impact, we have con- ducted an analysis of correlations in order to see the level of dependency between sta- tistical data they offer and the list of top-selling in Amazon. Only some slight evidences have been found. However there appears to be a strong or moderate correlation between the rest of the data, according to that we propose a battery of indicators to measure the book impact on reading. Keywords: Goodreads, LibraryThing, reading social networks, virtual reading clubs, reading indicators, Amazon 1 Epitexts, social reading networks and promotion of reading1 It is acknowledged that social media in general has become a way of com- municating to share a whole series of habits, behaviours and tastes, including reading and sharing books. This is the context in which Lluch et al. (2015: 798) deploy the concept of epitext and Jenkins’s notion of inter- active audiences, which are fostered by the social web and refer to groups of readers whose attention is focused on books and reading-related issues. «What we have are virtual identities for which it is equally important to keep abreast of the latest publishing releases and to exchange knowledge and opinions about books that they read, authors whom they like, themes and so forth» (Lluch et al., 2015: 798). -
Registered Sellers List As Of: 7/19/20
Registered Sellers List as of: 7/19/20 4FC LLC Avocado Mattress LLC 1A Auto Inc. BA Mason, Inc. AA ENT LLC BALSAM BRANDS INC. Aaron's, Inc. Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC ABB INC Barco Uniforms, Inc. Abebooks, Inc. Basecamp LLC ABS CBN Baxter Healthcare Corporation Accupoint Inc Bay Photo Inc Accusize Co Ltd Beachbody, LLC ActivStyle, Inc. Beemuns Inc AdvoCare International, LLC BENSUSSEN DEUTSCH & ASSOCIATES, LLC Airgas Safety, Inc. BestBuy.com LLC AK POWERSPORTS, LLC Biblio Inc AK Sassy's BIGBADTOYSTORE INC Alaska Frontier Fabrication. LLC BigCommerce, Inc. Alaska Roteq Corporation Biomic Sciences LLC Always Online LLC Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Amazon EU SARL Blacklightcom Inc Amazon Japan G.K. Blush LLC Amazon Services Europe SARL Body Groove LLC Amazon Services International, Inc. BOISE CASCADE BUILDING MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION Amazon.com Services LLC Bookshop, Inc Amazon.com.ca, Inc. BOP LLC American Power Systems LLC Boymom LLC American Stationery Company, Inc. Braun Northwest, Inc. Anchor Sign Inc Brenntag Pacific Inc Anderson United Inc BSN Sports LLC AppliancePartsPros.com, INC Bubbly Brands LLC AQUIS INC Bug Bite Thing Inc. Art Shop Gallery BUNN-O-MATIC CORPORATION ArtPix LLC Burst USA Inc. ASC Profiles LLC Business Interiors Northwest of Alaska, LLC ASCO Power Services, Inc. C & K TRADERS INC Asco Power Technologies, LP Cable Matters Inc. Automated Business Products of Colorado, LLC California Design Den Inc. AutomationDirect.com Inc. CAMPUS MANAGEMENT CORP AVALARA, INC Canon U.S.A., Inc. Avalara, Inc. Care Way Wellness Center LLC Averr Aglow Skincare Carrier Corporation Avery Products Corporation Carrier Rental Systems, Inc. Page 1 of 5 Registered Sellers List as of: 7/19/20 Cascade Columbia Distribution Company Dribbleup Inc Catherine Stewart EARLE M. -
Amazon's Surveillance Infrastructure and Revitalizing a Fair Marketplace
JULY 2021 Eyes Everywhere: Amazon's Surveillance Infrastructure and Revitalizing a Fair Marketplace Daniel A. Hanley 1 1 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................ 2 I. Introduction ........................................................................................ 3 II. Competitor Surveillance ......................................................................... 4 A. Amazon Marketplace ...................................................................... 4 B. Amazon Web Services ...................................................................... 5 C. Fulfillment by Amazon ..................................................................... 6 III. Consumer Surveillance ...................................................................... 7 A. Amazon Marketplace ...................................................................... 7 B. Amazon Alexa .................................................................................. 8 C. Amazon Ring .................................................................................... 9 D. Amazon's Other Consumer Surveillance Ambitions ..................... 10 IV. Harms .............................................................................................. 11 A. Copying Competitor Products ...................................................... 11 B. Self-Preferencing ............................................................................ 13 C. Arbitrary and Exclusionary Rules ..................................................