[ad_1]
Amazon.com Inc. and Lina Khan have a fraught historical past. Khan made her identify as a regulation pupil in 2017 with an article in The Yale Legislation Journal that made an instance of Amazon to argue for a broad re-imagining of U.S. antitrust regulation. Now she’s the chair of the U.S. Federal Commerce Fee, which had already sanctioned Amazon for privateness lapses, sued the corporate for antitrust violations Tuesday after a multiyear investigation. Amazon’s place within the U.S. economic system has solely grown since Khan’s article was revealed, particularly after a lot shopper spending moved on-line throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However a lot of U.S. antitrust regulation is greater than a century previous, written for a really completely different economic system, making the FTC’s case an necessary check of whether or not Khan’s interpretation of the regulation will maintain up in courtroom.
What enterprise practices is the FTC investigating?
The investigation, which started in 2019 throughout the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, has centered on Amazon’s on-line market, which options Amazon’s personal merchandise in addition to gadgets from third-party retailers who pay Amazon a fee for every sale, based on inside paperwork and folks accustomed to the probe. Some retailers have complained that Amazon’s market illegally provides preferential therapy to those who are prepared to make use of Amazon’s logistics service. The FTC can be anticipated to argue that Amazon’s Prime subscription service is anticompetitive, as a result of the perks and comfort that goes with it has the impact of “locking in” shoppers and retaining them from patronizing rivals, and that Amazon punishes retailers that put up decrease costs elsewhere by decreasing their visibility.
[ad_2]