CEO DATELINE - College bookstore association sues to expose university ties to Amazon
CEO DATELINE - College bookstore association sues to expose university ties to Amazon
- March 27, 2015 |
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Walt Williams
Group claims agreement should be made public
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The National Association of College Bookstores is taking Purdue University to court to learn the details of a deal that allowed retail giant Amazon to open its first-ever brick-and-mortar store, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Amazon has traditionally been an online-only retailer, but earlier this year the company opened its first physical store on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, Ind. The association requested a copy of the agreement Amazon signed with the university, but when it got the document large sections of the text had been redacted.
NACB filed a lawsuit Tuesday in county court to obtain the complete document, saying that as a public institution, Purdue is required to make the information public. Purdue argues the redacted information constitutes trade secrets that don't fall under open records law.
NACB represents college bookstores that compete with Amazon. The association has sued the retail giant before over allegations Amazon was using false advertising to sell college textbooks. That lawsuit was settled in 2012 when Amazon agreed to share with NACB the methodology it used to make its claims.http://indy.st/1NlCpzG