A bailiff walked into Booking.com's Amsterdam HQ this week.

A bailiff walked into Booking.com's Amsterdam HQ this week.With IT specialists.And started seizing records.Court-ordered.On behalf of 15,000+ European hotels.Here's why.For 20 years, Booking forced hotels to sign price parity clauses.No cheaper rates on your own site.No undercutting anywhere.Commissions: 15, 20, 30 percent.In 2024, the European Court of Justice ruled those clauses illegal.15,000 hotels are now suing for years of inflated commissions.But Booking allegedly cut off access to the old invoices.So the court sent a bailiff.This is bigger than hotels.Every STR operator runs on contracts the platform writes, on terms the platform sets, with data the platform controls.That asymmetry just cracked.12 days before EU 2024/1028 goes live.The platform era is being rewritten.