US files monopoly lawsuit against Amazon

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly using its monopoly power to act anti-competitively. The FTC argued in a statement that the company’s actions allowed prices to stop falling, charge excessively high fees to sellers, decrease quality, stifle innovation and prevent competitors from competing fairly against Amazon. The statement alleged that Amazon violated the law not because it is a large company, but because it engaged in exclusionary behavior that prevented existing competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging. It was noted that Amazon’s actions ensured that none of its competitors could threaten the company’s dominance in the market. The statement stated that the order Amazon has established affects hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales every year, hundreds of thousands of products sold by large and small businesses, and more than hundreds of million consumers. The states that joined the FTC in the lawsuit filed against Amazon are; The following are listed: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, whose statements were included in the statement, stated that their complaints reveal how Amazon uses a range of tactics to illegally maintain its monopoly position. Stating that their complaints include detailed allegations against Amazon, Khan said, "Today's lawsuit aims to hold Amazon accountable for its monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition."