FTC files ‘long-awaited’ antitrust suit against Amazon

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on 26 September, reports Publishers Weekly (PW).

The FTC’s 172-page complaint—which is supported by 17 state attorneys general—alleges Amazon ‘uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power’, allowing Amazon to ‘stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon’.

While the suit doesn’t directly mention books, it highlights the retailer’s hold over the companies that use its online marketplace to sell products, including books.

American Booksellers Association (ABA) CEO Allison Hill said the lawsuit ‘is good news for indie bookstores and good news for all small businesses’. ‘ABA applauds the FTC and states’ effort to release Amazon’s stranglehold, and we look forward to the transparency this lawsuit will provide into Amazon’s business practices,’ said Hill.

The head of one independent publisher told PW that if the government prevails, ‘it could be very beneficial to publishers’, adding the suit ‘could affect tactics around the negotiation of discounts and fees, etc., with publishers’. ‘The negotiations over the years between publishers and Amazon have been brutal,’ the publisher said. ‘At first, Amazon got big discounts since they were buying non-returnable. Then, predictably, they started returning books and kept the discounts.’

The FTC and its state partners are seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Amazon from engaging in what the government calls ‘unlawful conduct’, and would ‘pry loose Amazon’s monopolistic control to restore competition’. Amazon, which has denied all charges, said in a blog post sent to its partners that consumers will suffer if the government prevails.

Category: International news