Reuters reveals Amazon offered France deal to have bill protecting bookshops pulled

Amazon proposed raising book delivery charges in France to around 2 euros from almost nothing if parliament withdrew a bill that would make it more difficult for the e-commerce group to undercut local bookshops, a French senator told Reuters. Senator Laure Darcos said Amazon had made the proposal for a minimum delivery charge of 1.80-2.00 euros ($2.03-2.25) when its vice president for Books and Kindle content, David Naggar, met Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot on Aug. 25 in Paris. The proposal, details of which have not previously been reported, was part of a months-long lobbying push by Amazon to kill the bill, Darcos and five other lawmakers said.