Amazon is bypassing free delivery bans in France by only charging a penny

Amazon.com Inc. ended all book discounts in France on Thursday, and began charging a token penny for shipping books, bowing to a new French law aimed at protecting local bookstores from what they had described as “unfair competition” from the U.S. online retailer. The new law, which went into effect Thursday morning, essentially forbids online booksellers from applying government-regulated discounts to the cover prices of books. They can mark down shipping under the new law—often called the “Anti-Amazon” law—but they cannot offer it free. “We’re sadly no longer authorized to offer you a 5% discount on books,” Amazon said in a note on its French website. A paperback copy of novelist Michel Houellebecq’s recent book “Platforme,” for instance, was on sale Thursday for 8.10 euros ($11.03), plus €0.01 in shipping in France. Previously, it had cost €7.70 with free shipping. The new law is the latest step by European governments—particularly France’s—to rein in what they see as the growing power of a group of largely American tech companies. The French government said last month that it aims to propose new regulations at a European level to ensure a “level playing field” for European companies against U.S. firms. Amazon has been under particular pressure lately. The European Union is looking into its tax arrangements in Luxembourg. In Germany, its unions have been striking over wages. The company is also in the midst of a bitter dispute with Hachette Book Group, part of France’s Lagardère SCA, over e-book pricing, in which its negotiating tactics have included removing preorder buttons on coming Hachette titles.