The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a bipartisan coalition of 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon over violations of anti-competitive behavior on Tuesday, building on the government’s crackdo…
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The lawsuit targeting Amazon is twofold — alleging the e-commerce giant’s practices are anti-competitive in how it serves shoppers as well as third-party sellers on the site, according to an FTC announcement.
Amazon’s senior vice president of global policy and general counsel David Zapolsky said in a statement that the lawsuit is “wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”
“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses—the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he added.
In a partially redacted 172-page complaint, the FTC alleges that Amazon implemented an algorithm “for the express purpose of deterring other online stores from offering lower prices.”
The attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin joined the FTC’s lawsuit.
In May, the agency filed two lawsuits alleging Amazon violated user privacy, through its Ring security cameras and Alexa smart speakers.