Federal Trade Commission in the US is putting final touches to its mega anti-trust lawsuit against one of the Big tech company – Amazon, a latest Politico report says. The lawsuit can potentially break up the tech giant into smaller parts, the report adds. FTC has been looking into the businesses of Amazon from various aspects. The lawsuit is likely to come up in August next month. If FTC wins the case, this would mean that the sprawling empire worth $1.3 trillion will be restructured. This can be the legacy-defining moment for FTC boss Lina Khan. Many see this as one of the most potent attempt by the Joe Biden administration in taming the tech giant.
Khan rose to prominence after a 2017 paper that called out Amazon for being a ‘modern monopolist’. Though the details of the lawsuit are not not known, the Politico report said that FTC’s case will largely focus on Amazon’s business practices such as ‘forcing’ traders to use the company’s ad and logistics services. The report also added that instead of an in-house tribunal, FTC is likely to move federal court against Amazon. To build its case, FTC has been working on documents for the last three years. The agency has also interviewed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos among others.
The allegations are quite similar to what Amazon has been facing in California and Washington, DC, the Politico said. The previous cases focus on Amazon’s third-party rule. This rule makes it mandatory for third-party retailers to offer lowest prices on Amazon. Doing so means that these retailers will not be able to offer lowest prices on other shopping sites. While Amazon got relief in Washington, DC, a California judge is letting it go ahead.
Another key aspect of FTC’s lawsuit is Amazon’s logistics services. The claim says that the tech giant makes traders for opting for its in-house services by awarding them with better placement on the site. The probe into Amazon businesses began under Donald Trump. Back then, however, Trump focused on Meta instead of Amazon.
