Amazon Japan to no longer force vendors to offer lowest price

Nikkei -- May 31

Amazon Japan will do away with a contract clause that has required e-book and other suppliers to guarantee prices lower than those offered on rival e-commerce sites, in response to an antitrust probe that began last year.

Normally, the prices at which suppliers sell their products online should differ depending on contract period, discounts and other factors. But Amazon has used its dominant market position to make suppliers guarantee prices and lineups comparable to what is available on competing e-commerce sites -- via the so-called most-favored nation clause.