The U.S. Federal Trade Commission may sue Amazon later this month, ending a four-year antitrust investigation into the company, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The antitrust lawsuit is expected to target the online retail giant’s popular marketplace, where third-party merchants now account for more than half of the company’s online sales and pay a commission on each sale, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Roll call to discuss potential litigation. Merchants have complained that Amazon unfairly links its market access to its logistics services.
The long-awaited complaint would be the agency’s fourth against Amazon this year, adding to pressure on a Biden administration that has made antitrust and competition a cornerstone of its economic policy. Lina Khan, the FTC chair whom Biden picked to lead the agency, has long followed the online commerce giant and, as a law student, wrote a groundbreaking paper on how Rethink antitrust laws related to its online platforms.
Top company executives met with three FTC commissioners in mid-August to discuss the lawsuit, but not the settlement, the people said.
In May, the agency Sue e-commerce giants In two separate cases, they failed to delete children’s data collected by Alexa speakers, and illegally spied on users of Ring doorbells and cameras. Amazon said it disagreed with the FTC’s allegations, but agreed to pay $30.8 million to settle the case.
A month later, the FTC sued Amazon again in a consumer protection case, accused the company of defrauding consumers Sign up for Prime and make it intentionally hard to cancel. Amazon has denied the allegations, and the lawsuit is still ongoing.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the new lawsuit is expected to be filed this month.
Svlook
