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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during the GeekWire Summit in Seattle on October 5, 2021.
David Ryder | bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon He will soon face a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, bloomberg reported on Thursday.
The complaint is expected to focus on Amazon’s online marketplace and how the company uses its power to benefit merchants who use its logistics services, Bloomberg reported based on documents it reviewed and three anonymous sources familiar with the case. Bloomberg said the complaint could be filed in the coming weeks.
Such a lawsuit would be a major milestone for Federal Trade Commission Chair Lena Khan, who became a well-known figure in the antitrust world in 2017 when the Yale Law Journal published her memo,”The Amazon Antitrust Paradox. In it, Khan argued that the prevailing antitrust framework at the time failed to adequately assess Amazon’s vast power and the ways it could use it to harm competition.
Her previous writings were part of what prompted Amazon to request that she be recused from antitrust cases because the company believes it lacks impartiality in the matter. meta He made a similar request, but Khan has so far refused to be seated.
The FTC has already taken action against Amazon in other areas, including a recent consumer protection lawsuit alleging that the platform used deceptive methods to get users to sign up for Prime subscriptions and “sabotage” their attempts to cancel. It also recently settled two separate lawsuits alleging privacy gaps in Alexa voice assistant and Ring video security products.
But the antitrust complaint against Amazon’s core business is the action most FTC watchers have been waiting for. According to Bloomberg, the anticipated complaint is based in part on evidence the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has collected that Amazon harms sellers who don’t use its logistics services.
While it is possible for both parties to reach a settlement before charges are formally filed, Khan has done so pointed out Structural changes such as secession are favored over promises from companies to change their behaviour, making compromise less likely.
The Federal Trade Commission declined to comment to CNBC and Amazon did not immediately respond to a request.
Read the full story at bloomberg.
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