The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday — the most recent government attempt at breaking Big Tech’s dominance of the web.
The lawsuit, which followed a four-year investigation, alleges that the Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth uses its position within the marketplace to inflate prices on other platforms, overcharge sellers and stifle competition, based on the grievance filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and stop rivals from fairly competing against Amazon,” the agency said in an announcement.
FTC chair Lina Khan — the 34-year-old antitrust crusader who wrote a scholarly paper on Amazon’s market dominance while a student at Yale Law School — asked the court to issue a everlasting injunction ordering Amazon to stop its illegal conduct.
Amazon, founded in 1994 and value greater than $1 trillion, pushed back on some of the significant legal challenges against the corporate, and follows federal lawsuits filed against Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms’ Facebook.
“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,” Amazon said.
“The practices the FTC is difficult have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the numerous businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”
“If the FTC gets its way, the result can be fewer products to pick from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the other of what antitrust law is designed to do,” the corporate said.
“The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is flawed on the facts and the law, and we look ahead to making that case in court.”
Shares of Amazon closed down 4% to $125.98 after the FTC announced the legal filing.
The Post has sought comment from Amazon.
“The grievance sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to counterpoint itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the a whole lot of 1000’s of companies that depend on Amazon to achieve them,” Khan said in an announcement.
Many had wondered whether the agency would seek a forced break-up of the retail giant, which can also be dominant in cloud computing and has a growing presence in other sectors like groceries and health care.
In a briefing with reporters, Khan dodged questions on whether that can occur.
“At this stage, the main focus is more on liability,” she said.
Amazon’s critics welcomed the lawsuit.
“No corporation has ever centralized this much power across so many crucial sectors. Left unchecked, Amazon’s power to dictate and control threatens the rule of law and our ability to take care of open, democratically governed markets,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance which has pushed for the federal government to act against Amazon.
The necessity to take motion against Big Tech has been one in every of the few ideas that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on. Throughout the Trump administration which led to 2021, the Justice Department and FTC opened probes into Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
The Justice Department has sued Google twice – once under Republican Donald Trump regarding its search business and a second time on promoting technology since Democratic President Joe Biden took office. The FTC sued Facebook throughout the Trump administration and Biden’s FTC has pressed forward with the lawsuit.
With Post Wires
The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday — the most recent government attempt at breaking Big Tech’s dominance of the web.
The lawsuit, which followed a four-year investigation, alleges that the Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth uses its position within the marketplace to inflate prices on other platforms, overcharge sellers and stifle competition, based on the grievance filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and stop rivals from fairly competing against Amazon,” the agency said in an announcement.
FTC chair Lina Khan — the 34-year-old antitrust crusader who wrote a scholarly paper on Amazon’s market dominance while a student at Yale Law School — asked the court to issue a everlasting injunction ordering Amazon to stop its illegal conduct.
Amazon, founded in 1994 and value greater than $1 trillion, pushed back on some of the significant legal challenges against the corporate, and follows federal lawsuits filed against Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms’ Facebook.
“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,” Amazon said.
“The practices the FTC is difficult have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the numerous businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”
“If the FTC gets its way, the result can be fewer products to pick from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the other of what antitrust law is designed to do,” the corporate said.
“The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is flawed on the facts and the law, and we look ahead to making that case in court.”
Shares of Amazon closed down 4% to $125.98 after the FTC announced the legal filing.
The Post has sought comment from Amazon.
“The grievance sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to counterpoint itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the a whole lot of 1000’s of companies that depend on Amazon to achieve them,” Khan said in an announcement.
Many had wondered whether the agency would seek a forced break-up of the retail giant, which can also be dominant in cloud computing and has a growing presence in other sectors like groceries and health care.
In a briefing with reporters, Khan dodged questions on whether that can occur.
“At this stage, the main focus is more on liability,” she said.
Amazon’s critics welcomed the lawsuit.
“No corporation has ever centralized this much power across so many crucial sectors. Left unchecked, Amazon’s power to dictate and control threatens the rule of law and our ability to take care of open, democratically governed markets,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance which has pushed for the federal government to act against Amazon.
The necessity to take motion against Big Tech has been one in every of the few ideas that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on. Throughout the Trump administration which led to 2021, the Justice Department and FTC opened probes into Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
The Justice Department has sued Google twice – once under Republican Donald Trump regarding its search business and a second time on promoting technology since Democratic President Joe Biden took office. The FTC sued Facebook throughout the Trump administration and Biden’s FTC has pressed forward with the lawsuit.
With Post Wires
