DC Attorney General Asks Court To Reconsider Amazon Antitrust Lawsuit (engadget.com) 1
DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed a motion asking the court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit he filed against Amazon in 2021. From a report: In the original lawsuit, Racine accused the e-commerce giant of "illegally abusing and maintaining its monopoly power by controlling prices across the online retail market." Third-party sellers that use Amazon's Marketplace have to abide by the company's agreement, which includes a fair pricing policy. If they sell their goods for lower prices elsewhere, Amazon could remove their items' buy box, suspend their shipment option and even terminate their selling privileges for "serious or repeated cases."
The company stopped telling sellers back in 2019 in the midst of antitrust scrutiny that they couldn't sell their products for cheaper prices elsewhere. However, the company later added back a clause under its fair pricing policy that's nearly identical. Racine argued that since sellers price their goods with Amazon's cut in mind, the policy artificially raises prices even on sellers' own websites and on competing e-commerce platforms.
The company stopped telling sellers back in 2019 in the midst of antitrust scrutiny that they couldn't sell their products for cheaper prices elsewhere. However, the company later added back a clause under its fair pricing policy that's nearly identical. Racine argued that since sellers price their goods with Amazon's cut in mind, the policy artificially raises prices even on sellers' own websites and on competing e-commerce platforms.
Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 (Score:3)
The Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 prohibits price-fixing.
That law is aimed at price-fixing by competitors, or manufacturers dictating prices to resellers, but nothing in the act precludes it from applying to Amazon.