On Tuesday, DC Attorney General Karl Racine sued Amazon on antitrust grounds, accusing the e-commerce giant of suppressing competition by placing stri

DC attorney general launches antitrust suit against Amazon

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2021-05-25 19:30:03

On Tuesday, DC Attorney General Karl Racine sued Amazon on antitrust grounds, accusing the e-commerce giant of suppressing competition by placing strict conditions on what third-party sellers can do outside of the company’s platform.

“Amazon’s policies have prevented competing platforms, including sellers’ own websites, from competing on price and gaining market share,” Racine said in a press call. “The loss of competition results in less innovation.”

Filed in DC Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges that Amazon unlawfully maintains its monopoly power by preventing independent sellers from offering products at lower prices on other platforms. It also claims that these “most favored nation” agreements harm consumers by inflating prices and stifling competition and innovation in the online retail market.

In particular, the lawsuit takes aim at a clause in Amazon’s required agreements for third-party sellers that “explicitly prohibited [third-party sellers] from offering their products on a competing online retail sales platform, including the TPS’s own website, at a lower price or on better terms than the TPS offered the products on Amazon.”