Amazon faces antitrust lawsuit from US FTC over e-commerce operations

Amazon faces antitrust lawsuit from US FTC over e-commerce operations

The US Federal Trade ⁣Commission (FTC) has filed⁤ a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that ⁤the company‍ has been engaging in a number of “interlocking anticompetitive and unfair‍ strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power.”

In the complaint, ‌the FTC and 17 state attorneys general claim‍ that Amazon’s actions have prevented its rivals‌ and sellers from lowering prices,⁣ leading to a decrease in⁤ quality for shoppers, sellers being overcharged, innovation being stifled, and Amazon’s market‍ competitors ⁣prevented from fairly competing against the company.

Amazon hasn’t violated ⁤the law because of its size but ⁤rather because its exclusionary conduct prevents current competitors from growing and new ones ​from emerging, the FTC alleges. It claims Amazon’s anticompetitive ‍conduct has occurred in both its online shopping market ‌that serves buyers,​ and its online marketplace that​ serves sellers.

“We’re ⁣bringing this case because Amazon’s illegal​ conduct has stifled competition across a huge swath of the ⁣online economy. Amazon is a monopolist that uses its power to ⁤hike prices on American shoppers and charge sky-high⁣ fees on hundreds of thousands of online sellers,” said ⁤John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s bureau ⁢of competition, in a statement.

A core issue ‌of the lawsuit is Amazon’s practice ⁣of steadily increasing fulfillment fees for sellers ‍on the tech giant’s e-commerce platform, which the FTC says forces them to raise prices for ​customers. The FTC ​also notes that the‌ company effectively punishes sellers that offer ‍products for sale on⁤ other platforms at‌ prices that are lower those on Amazon, and that punishment can include ​removal⁤ from the Amazon site.

After the FTC filed the‌ lawsuit, Amazon’s senior vice president, global ⁤public policy and⁣ general ⁤counsel, David Zapolsky, posted an update on X, the social media platform formerly ‍known as ⁢Twitter,‍ stating that⁢ Amazon believes the FTC’s lawsuit is “misguided.”

“Unfortunately, it appears the ⁣current FTC is radically⁤ departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would,‍ if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices ‍that actually harm consumers and the⁣ many businesses that sell in our store,” the company wrote ​in a statement, going​ on to rebut the allegations laid out by the regulator.

“We fundamentally disagree with the FTC’s allegations… We will⁢ contest this lawsuit,” the statement said.

Although the FTC did not explicitly say that it would ⁣seek to ⁤break up Amazon,⁢ it did ⁣include a request for “structural relief,” noted David Olson, ⁤associate professor at Boston College ‌Law School. If the​ FTC prevails, it could mean‍ “the court would order some change in the structure of Amazon, such as not running Amazon ⁣Marketplace and also competing there, or ⁣spinning off its fulfilment operation ‍into a separate,⁢ unrelated business,” Olson said.

Amazon is‍ also facing an anticompetition probe in the ‍UK…

2023-09-27​ 18:48:02
Original⁢ from www.computerworld.com rnrn

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