The US Federal Trade Commission is reported to be preparing a lawsuit against Amazon that could be filed as early as this spring itself, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also, while it is not known what allegations the agency is planning to levy against Amazon, chances are that it is going to be an antitrust lawsuit that would take into account all the recent acquisitions the retail behemoth made in recent times.
As it is, two of Amazon’s most recent acquisitions, the $3.5 billion takeover of 1Life Healthcare Inc., the parent company of One Medical as well as iRobot Corp, makers of Roomba vacuum in a deal worth $1.65 billion are already being probed by the agency for a possible antitrust violation. An earlier investigation looking into possible irregularities with the company’s retail division which started back in 2019 later had its scope expanded to look into the company’s acquisition of MGM Studio in a deal worth $8.45 billion.
Apart from the above, Amazon has also been sued by California which has accused the retail giant of forcing third-party sellers to comply with policies that often lead to an artificial rise in prices. Small merchants at Amazon have often complained about how the retailer punishes them by burying their products on the webstore if they offer their products at a lower rate on other retail sites. A merchant also filed a written complaint about how Amazon forced him as well as a few other sellers to use its expensive logistics service which in turn forced the sellers to jack up the prices of their products.
Amazon earlier in December brokered peace with the EU with regard to three antitrust investigations against it by agreeing to take into account the EU’s concerns over the way it uses seller information, something that led it to save a fine of 10 percent of its global turnover. It now remains to be seen how the FTC vs Amazon battle shape up in the months ahead and who has the last laugh.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in the world of technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles as well, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. Motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot and maybe I’ll make a film sometime in the future.