Where I grew up small businesses could be "turned off" by the local government at the drop of a hat if they competed with the businesses of the well connected, the owner offended the wrong person, etc, etc. It would all eventually be "made right", sometimes in court, but because most business was seasonal many businesses would fold in the time it took for things to be "made right".
Is having an algorithm flag you and ruin your business and source of income with no warning and inadequate recourse really that different from the status quo?
And here, there's a trail that leads to Amazon as the cause for disruption. In both cases, interested parties could know who was at fault but the result is the same: such catastrophic loss during the run of "the process" that the seller is out of business regardless.
Yes. Government, even moreso local governement, is supposed to be subject and an expression of the will of the people. The multinational corporation is barely so.
When the company screws you over, you'll have no recourse. This is the libertarian dream.
Amazon can't send cops to my house if I decide I'm gonna keep selling my product on eBay or register for a new Amazon seller account. If you keep trying to run a business that's been condemned by local government eventually cops will show up and stop you from running that business.
The stakes are lower in the case of Amazon. You're not renting shop space. You're not sitting on as much inventory. You can jump ship more easily (kind of hard to relocate your business to another location). The trade-off is that they can also kick you out more easily.
Complain to the company's management. Organize other customers to shun the company. If it is really an example of gross negligence or overreach on the part of the company, their customers will care and hold them over the fire for it.
The company exists to make money which it can only do by servicing those who use it. It may gain a lot of power with a monopoly, but it must still provide its service or die.
Is having an algorithm flag you and ruin your business and source of income with no warning and inadequate recourse really that different from the status quo?