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DEMAND FOR ARBITRATION - 1

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K&L GATES LLP 925 FOURTH AVENUE SUITE 2900 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104-1158 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-7580 FACSIMILE:

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AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION

AMAZON.COM, INC., a Delaware corporation, Claimant, v. ALEXIS PABLO MARROCCO, an individual; HAYEK ENTERPRISES LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company; FENIX ENTERPRISES, LLC, a New York limited liability company; EMILY WHEELER, an individual; D’ANCONIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and HYDRA ENTERPRISES LLC, a limited liability company, Respondent. No. ____________________

AMAZON.COM, INC.’S DEMAND FOR ARBITRATION

Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”), for its demand for arbitration, states as follows:

I. SUMMARY

1.

Each day, millions of consumers use Amazon’s websites to assist with their purchasing decisions. In order to make those decisions more informed, Amazon provides customer reviews of products and services available on Amazon. Amazon pioneered customer reviews 20 years ago and is now home to hundreds of millions of unique reviews. Reviews provide a forum for sharing authentic feedback about products and services—positive or negative. Amazon does not remove reviews because they are critical of products; Amazon believes all helpful information can inform its customers’


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buying decisions. Whether positive, negative, or anywhere in between, Amazon takes the credibility of its customer reviews very seriously. 2.

One segment of Amazon reviews consists of reader reviews of books, including reviews of books self-published by authors and independent publishers through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service and sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC on various Amazon websites. Authors who use this service to publish their books agree to Amazon’s KDP terms and conditions. 3.

A very small minority of KDP authors attempt to gain an unfair competitive advantage by creating false, misleading, and inauthentic customer reviews for their self-published books sold on Amazon. While small in number, these reviews threaten to undermine the trust that customers, and the vast majority of KDP authors, place in Amazon, thereby tarnishing Amazon’s brand and the Kindle brand. Amazon strictly prohibits any attempt to manipulate customer reviews and actively polices its website to remove false, misleading, and inauthentic reviews. Despite substantial efforts to stamp out the practice, a small number of bad actors continue to endeavor to use inauthentic reviews to boost their sales. 4.

Since the beginning of 2015, Amazon has filed lawsuits against over 1,000 defendants who offered to post fake reviews in exchange for payment. Through these efforts, as well as analysis of Amazon’s own data, Amazon has identified sellers who have paid for fake reviews and taken enforcement action against those sellers such as suspending or blocking their accounts. Using the same techniques, Amazon has identified KDP authors who are engaging in abuse of the Amazon customer review system. This demand for arbitration is a continuation of that strategy and is intended to eliminate the incentives for KDP authors to engage in abuse.


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5.

Respondent Hydra Enterprises LLC (“Hydra”) is the holder of a KDP user account that publishes books by an author they list as The Language Academy. Hydra has engaged in an extensive and concerted effort to mislead Amazon’s customers and to manipulate customer reviews for Respondent Hydra’s books. Hydra has knowingly violated Amazon’s rules for KDP users, and has used deception and artifice in an attempt to circumvent Amazon’s investigative and enforcement efforts. 6.

As The Language Academy, Respondent Hydra sells language learning books. Amazon has determined that across The Language Academy’s books, reviews that violate Amazon’s review policies were submitted for at least 12 books. For those books, 769 of 956 submitted reviews on Amazon.com (80%) violate Amazon’s review policies and were removed. 7.

Respondent D’Anconia Enterprises LLC (“D’Anconia”) receives all Amazon payments made to Hydra. On information and belief, D’Anconia is also the holder of a KDP user account in the name of “Danconia Enterprises LLC,” which has published books by an author Danconia Enterprises LLC lists as “Alphy Books.” Submitted reviews on Amazon.com for Alphy Books’ books violate Amazon’s review policies. 8.

Respondent Hayek Enterprises LLC (“Hayek”) is the holder of KDP account in the name of “Hayek Enterprises LLC,” which also has D’Anconia as its Amazon payee. Hayek also publishes language books through its account. For these additional books, at least 201 of 458 submitted reviews (44%) violate Amazon’s review policies. 9.

Respondent Fenix Enterprises LLC (“Fenix”) (also known as “Emily Wheeler”) is the holder of a KDP account in the name of “Emily Wheeler,” which also has D’Anconia as its Amazon payee. Respondent Fenix publishes language and religion