News Industry At Odds With Free Speech Advocates Over Amazon’s Perplexity Ban

Free speech advocates and news organizations agree that a
high-stakes battle over whether Amazon can ban artificial intelligence (AI) company Perplexity from Amazon.com will affect journalism.

But the watchdogs and online news industry disagree about
a key point — whether ousting Perplexity from Amazon will help or hinder journalists.

The Knight First Amendment Institute and other watchdogs say a win for Amazon will hinder
journalists’ ability to conduct research.

But Digital Content Next, which represents news companies, says in court papers filed Wednesday that a ruling for Amazon “will advance, not harm,
journalism.”

The dispute centers on whether Perplexity violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — a 1986 anti-hacking law — by allegedly accessing Amazon users’ accounts
with their consent, but in violation of Amazon’s attempt to prevent such access. That law, introduced soon after the movie “WarGames” came out, has
provisions prohibiting people from intentionally accessing computer systems without authorization.

The dispute dates to November, when Amazon sued Perplexity for allegedly
“trespassing” into Amazon’s system.

The retailer alleged that Perplexity, through the Comet browser, shopped for users and made purchases on their behalf — even after Amazon attempted to
implement technological blocks and sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter.

Two months ago, U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney in the Northern District of
California