FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly
FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly
FTC: Amazon "extracts enormous monopoly rents from everyone within its reach."
FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly::FTC: Amazon "extracts enormous monopoly rents from everyone within its reach."
I can't help but notice Amazon is facing a big lawsuit over hurting other corporations.
Selling an infinite catalogue of shoddy, fraudulent, and outright dangerous goods like leaden toys, phone-melting power-equipment, house-destroying incendiary batteries, and data-erasing empty data storage? No, that's fine, that's not Amazon's fault, that was XZBBK's fault. We kicked them off the store. No, I don't think they're related to that new company XBZZK, why would you say that? They sell legitimate USB cables that according to the listing used to be cutting board, a drying rack, a canopy for a kids bed, and an espresso machine.
It's worse than that.
They DON'T kick bad actors off the store most of the time because they don't know who they are.
Amazon keeps all of product X in one place in each distribution center, regardless of the supplier. So they can't know which of the 35 sellers of the product is supplying the counterfeits.
I don't buy batteries from them anymore. I'm pretty sure 90+% of 18650 cells they have are counterfeit.
The gall to question their listing with an average customer rating of 4.9/5 stars. Sure I only gave them that rating so I could qualify for the warranty on the 3 TB flash drive I bought from them for $8.99, but I'm sure it'll work fine once I use it for the first time.
Amazon isn't sued for not kicking bad actors, it is sued for being bad actor
Amazon and Walmart are in great need of some good ol' trust busting. Well, they aren't in need of it, this society is in need of it.
Amazon and Walmart have just outright won the game. Everyone else in those spaces, and adjacent spaces, just can't compete anymore. You either do business with them or die/live on the leftover scraps.
It's really not good, there should be more opportunities for others.
I just want a trust buster
Pff…. Now do the banks, cable companies, health care, etc.
banks
Not a monopoly though?
cable companies
Agreed on this one! In theory, there are lots of cable companies.
In practice, you actually only have one cable provider that provides service in your area.
health care
Also not a monopoly in my area.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to defend any of the abusive practices of any of these industries. It's just that they're not monopolies.
Monopoly as used by professional economists doesn't refer to a literal 100% marketshare. It refers to distortion.
FCC burns ISP's butts
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general today sued Amazon, claiming the online retail giant illegally maintains monopoly power.
"Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies," FTC Chair Lina Khan said.
Today's lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition."
Joining the FTC in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
The FTC claimed that "Amazon's illegal, exclusionary conduct makes it impossible for competitors to gain a foothold," and that the company "extracts enormous monopoly rents from everyone within its reach."
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," Amazon Global Public Policy & General Counsel David Zapolsky wrote.
The original article contains 613 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Will not go anywhere because Amazon and other gigacirporations basically own the US govt at this point.
Well it’s a shame a company can’t keep benefitting the customers. Seems the capitalist business plan always has to go through a morph of fucking over everyone.
I'm all for Amazon getting sued but... the big one? Wasn't there another "big one" a week or two ago? And who called it that? Feels like the reporters just made that part up.
Lina is the best
I want this to actually do something but I don't have any hope anything will happen. Sigh.