Ecommerce Giant, Amazon Wins Partial Dismissal of Antitrust Case
A federal judge in the US has dismissed in part an antitrust lawsuit filed against e-commerce giant, Amazon. Reuters reported that details of the ruling by the Seattle court remain scarce.
Amazon won the partial dismissal at a time when US regulators are reigning on big tech companies for similar reasons. Meta platforms and Apple are facing antitrust lawsuits in the US. Search giant Google is currently facing two trials, including one where a federal Judge ruled that it’s an illegal monopoly.
Google awaits a court ruling of another antitrust trial that is focused on its ad technology.
Alleged Anti-Competitive Practices
The US FTC lawsuit against Amazon was filed by regulators in September 2023. The US Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleged that Amazon was stifling competition by forcing vendors to use its order fulfillment and advertising services to maintain market dominance.
The e-commerce giant was also accused of pushing out vendors who sell products on rival platforms at lower prices. The FTC accused Amazon of increasing product prices using an algorithm. There are 1 billion products on Amazon’s online superstore. Amazon told the court that it has not used the algorithm since 2019.
Amazon’s Dismissal Request
Investigations into Amazon’s business practices were initiated in 2019. In December 2023, the e-commerce company asked the District Court Judge, John Chun to dismiss the antitrust case.
Amazon argued that its practices applied to all retailers and that the FTC had not identified any harm to consumers. Judge Chun granted Amazon’s antitrust case request in part, a move that pleased Amazon.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss some of the claims. Amazon’s practices support a competitive marketplace that fosters innovation and growth,” the company said in a statement.
The Next Step
Though the court dismissed some of the allegations in the lawsuit, the FTC will pursue other claims that the Judge upheld. A sealed ruling issued by Judge Chun shows that the trial will take place in two parts. Chun turned down Amazon’s request to compel the FTC to present its evidence of alleged violations and share the remedies it proposes in the same trial.
Amazon will have to put up a strong defense against FTC’s alleged manipulative pricing strategies and monopolistic behavior in the e-commerce market. A review of these claims will form an important part of Amazon’s US antitrust lawsuit.
Commission Chair, Lina Khan is following the FTC antitrust lawsuit against Amazon keenly. Khan has been challenging the power of the giant online retailer for several years now. In 2017, she published an academic article arguing that Amazon’s practice and structure had escaped antitrust scrutiny despite posing anti-competitive threats.
