FTC Makes Good On Promise To Trust Bust By Going After Amazon

// The effects of Amazon are everywhere. Those blue trucks are instrumental in dropping off the stuff you ordered that was supposed to get here two days ago. But what else plays a part? Why are you buying from Amazon, specifically? Is it their service? Or are they the only real service available?

Back in 1890, a bunch of lawmakers — one of them named Sherman — decided that the average person needed protections not only from the tyranny of government, but from the tyranny of corporations too. Believing that a market is only free if customers and aspiring entrants actually have the chance to browse, purchase, and offer their services without being bullied by players big enough to limit their options, the Sherman Act was created and used for a fair bit of trust busting. Over time, its use has lessened, but the FTC has made big promises to bring it back en force.  They are about to make good on them. The FTC is accusing Amazon for their fair share of strong-arming and taking them to court about it. From Law.com:

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The Federal Trade Commission lodged a long-expected case Tuesday accusing Amazon of violating antitrust law, marking another aggressive step in the administration’s efforts to increase competition across the economy, especially through moves to rein-in large digital platforms.

The suit filed in federal court in Washington state targets Amazon’s policies that enforcers say punish sellers for offering lower prices elsewhere and requirements that force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics services to gain access to the platform.

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The consequences of this case could be huge for the average American. Okay, not make doctors afraid of going to prison over routine medical treatments or putting ecology and drinking water in crisis by jettisoning the Nexus test but like, still pretty big. Monopolies impact the prices of any and everything ranging to chicken to flights out the country. In 2019, an economist clocked monopolies at costing American families an additional $300 per month. Coupling that with over 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, an outcome that disrupts monopolistic practices could take a weight off our shoulders we didn’t know we had. Or, as FTC Chair Lina M. Khan would say it:

[A]mazon is a monopolist and it is exploiting its monopolies in ways that leave shoppers and sellers paying more for worse service,” Khan said. “In a competitive world, a monopoly hiking prices and degrading service would create an opening for rivals and potential rivals to come in, draw business, grow and compete.

“Amazon’s unlawful monopolistic strategy has closed off that possibility and the public is paying dearly as a result,” Khan added.

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It is a large case with compelling arguments on both sides. Amazon will lean into claims of how its business model creatives efficiency for the customer, ease of navigation, and cheaper costs. The FTC will call that bunk, point to the large body of evidence that suggests Amazon prevents new players from entering the market, that its algorithm buries consumers’ chances at seeing different deals, and that Bezos looks like a Walmart Brand Lex Luthor. Okay, that probably won’t be a part of any of the filings, but I know you see the resemblance.

Bro I keep saying this Jeff Bezos is literally Lex Luther in real life https://t.co/l03jhvZ8RF

— Melodic 🥷🇯🇲🇰🇳 (@Melodic_954) October 7, 2020

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we just gone act like Jeff Bezos not Lex Luther…alr fasho pic.twitter.com/sQiZSeAd7l

— kam bam 🕳🐇 (@Kamstaxalot) March 7, 2022

Alright, back to this very serious case whose outcomes will set precedent for the multibillion-dollar companies that heavily play roles in determining our choices in life.  If you’d like to follow it in addition to our ongoing coverage, the case is Federal Trade Commission et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., case number 2:23-cv-01495, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

FTC Finally Brings Down Antitrust Hammer On Amazon [Law.com]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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Amazon, Antitrust, FTC, Government