The US government is suing Amazon. How this might impact you?

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states launched a lawsuit against Amazon. Consumers are paying more, small businesses are having to pay 50% Amazon tax right now.

The US Government is suing Amazon. How this might impact you?

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states launched a lawsuit against Amazon. The suit accuses Amazon of having a monopoly over the retail environment and using the market size and power to raise prices for consumers. People are paying higher prices. Consumers are paying more, small businesses are having to pay 50% Amazon tax right now, and so ultimately the complaint is seeking to restore the lost promise of competition, greater competition means lower prices, better quality, better selection, and greater innovation.

And that’s ultimately what this case is about. The case allegations unfairly promote its own platforms and services harming third-party sellers who rely on Amazon to sell their goods. The claim has followed Amazon for years. Lena Khan wrote about this in 2017 as a lieu student.

Here is how she explained it to us in 2019. A situation when a single company can set the terms of the marketplace. That’s a situation where we should worry about the market not being competitive. That year I asked the then-ceo of Amazon worldwide consumer Jeff Welke about these criticisms.

Amazon’s marketplace dominance. Here’s what he said. Does Amazon give priority to unprioritizing its private label in search? We prioritize the things that customers want. In a recent hearing on Capitol Hill an Amazon attorney went a step further and categorically denied the claim.

We don’t use their individual data when making decisions to launch private brands. Our incentive is to help the seller to succeed because we rely on them. When Wilkie left the company in 2021, Lina Khan told CNN in 2021, Lina khan told CNN the FTC has not ruled out holding Amazon executives personally lived for the company’s alleged conduct if they find sufficient evidence.

Mazon says it could cause the very problems it hopes to solve and, quote, if the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower Dallas, and reduced options for small businesses. This is not the FTC’s only lawsuit against Amazon. It’s suing several executives alleging schemes to enroll people into their prime memberships without knowing.

You have been focused on this all morning. Did I email you enough about it? I love those emails. I learned a lot from them. What is your take? Because 14 was a huge moment not just for the FTC, the Biden administration, and Lina Khan. This has been her fight. She is the first who raise the question to this country about what a monopoly is, do we have to change the way we define a monopoly from Microsoft days monopoly from Microsoft days to what Amazon is now.

My question is, it’s important to track 17 states attorney general are onboard. What does it mean for people at home and who sell on Amazon. If they prevail, is it just going to be fines and penalties or will actual changes happen that benefit them? Amazon, too, says if you succeed in what you are trying to do, it’s just going to cost people more. It’s groundbreaking. See where it goes.