On Friday, Apr. 15, DC Attorney General Karl Racine asked the DC court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit filed against the e-Commerce giant Amazon.
Attorney General Racine filed the antitrust lawsuit himself in 2021, and now he submitted a motion to reopen the case.
DC Attorney General Wants Amazon Lawsuit Reopened
In the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Racine, he accused Amazon of illegally abusing and maintaining its power by controlling the prices across the online retail market.
Several third-party sellers that use the e-commerce marketplace have to abide by the company's agreement, including a fair pricing policy.
If the retailers sell their goods for lower prices in other markets, Amazon could remove their products' buy box, suspend their shipment option, and even terminate their privileges.
In the midst of antitrust scrutiny, Amazon stopped telling the sellers back in 2019 that they could not sell their products for more affordable prices elsewhere.
However, the e-commerce company later added back a clause under its fair pricing policy almost identical to its previous policy.
Attorney General Racine argued that since sellers price their goods with Amazon's cut included, the policy artificially raises prices even on their own websites and other e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Etsy.
Amazon told Engadget that Attorney General Racine had misinterpreted its pricing policy when he filed the lawsuit.
The spokesperson said that e-Commerce takes pride in the fact that they offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store, the company reserves the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively.
The relief that the Attorney General seeks would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against the core objectives of antitrust law.
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia sided with the e-commerce giant and dismissed Attorney General Racine's complaint in March 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Now, Attorney General Racine wants another shot at proving that Amazon violated antitrust laws.
His office's amended complaint includes additional details about how the e-commerce company's policy violates the DC code, mostly focusing on how it causes prices to District residents to be higher than they otherwise would be and how it inhibits sellers from competing with the company's own products.
Attorney General Racine said in a statement that they are asking the DC court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the Amazon case because the antitrust laws and facts are on their side, and they are determined to continue to stand up for the consumers.
The Attorney General added that the e-commerce giant illegally uses its market power to prevent sellers from lowering their prices on other platforms, and this results in higher prices for consumers.
Amazon's Suspended Sales Program
On Jan. 28, TechCrunch reported that Amazon was forced to pay $2.25 million and permanently shut down its sales program due to an alleged price-fixing.
The program called "Sold by Amazon, was launched in 2018 and slowly expanded worldwide. In March 2020, the authorities began investigating the program, and by June 2020, the program was suspended.
In March 2021, former Amazon employees filed a lawsuit against the company for its poor working conditions.
In July 2021, the EU filed an $888 million lawsuit against Amazon for a privacy breach.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
